After The End
by WateryMind
Summary: A funny, sarcastic and hopeful vision of life after the Fall of Cocoon. Completely ignores XIII-2, may contain OCs and OOC moments from characters. Enjoy. LightxOC, HopexOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: HELLO ALL! Yes, I'm taking a break from Pilgrims, mainly because I'm not really getting much of anything for it right now. Anyway, this idea came to my head a few days ago. The general idea is Lightning had adopted Hope after his father being missing after the fall of Cocoon, and now they are living a somewhat normal life, AND HATING IT! Anyway, hope this first chapter isn't too bad. Just setting the scene and whatnot. Anyways, R&R, cause that review button gets lonely sometimes :D FYI, if it seems like Lightning never really gets into character, its because I'M A GUY. And I don't write chicks very well.

DISCLAIMER: Square Enix owns EVERYTHING except for Markus. He is mine, and always shall be. Unless I sell him to Square Enix to use in a FF13 squeal based on my story. But that'll never happen. So he's mine.

Chapter 1

"Hope Estheim, if you are not out of bed in ten minutes, so help me I WILL come up there and drag you out myself!" shouted Claire 'Lightning' Farron, standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor of her two story home. The only respond she received was a vague mumbling that she believed was the 16 year old Hope's response. Sighing, the pink haired woman checked the clock hanging on the wall nearby: 7:32am.

"Hope! If you're not up soon, you are going to be late! And then Serah will be down on me for letting you be late! And believe me, you _don't _want that," said Lightning, her voice turning cold.

"Ok, ok, I'm up!" came the reply, as the house's second resident, Hope Estheim, staggered out of his bedroom wearing a pair of yellow shorts. The 2 years since the events of Cocoon's fall and resulting crystallization had granted him nearly a foot in height. As he made his way down the stairs, running a hand through his sliver hair, Lightning shook her head. Once upon a time, _she _towered over _him_, not the over way round.

"So, what's for breakfast, Light?" asked Hope, seating himself in the kitchen/ dining room.

"What do you think? I'm going for a run. Be ready when I'm back, or I'll make you wish you never agreed to living here," replied the pink haired one, finger pointed menacingly at the teenager during the last part. Hope could only nodded under the glare his guardian wore. Light smiled, then went upstairs to change into something more suited for running, pausing at the door of Hope's room and shaking her head at the mess ccontained within.

"You're cleaning your room after school, Hope!" she shouted, smiling at the "What?" she got in return, before continuing into her, predictably neat, room and closing the door.

Emerging a few minutes later, wearing a white zip-up hoodie and matching jogging pants, Light nearly collided with Hope, who had a toothbrush sticl out of his mouth and what appeared to be his school uniform in his arms.

"You've got 30 minutes. Double time," Light commanded, smiling slightly when the teenager saluted and ran into the bathroom. Descending down the stairs, she put on a pair of trainers, then opened the front door and jogged onto the streets of New Palumpolum.

In the 2 years since the 'destruction' of Cocoon, its former residents had established themselves on the harsh surface of Gran Pulse, with many small towns and cities appearing on the lowerworld's surface. The Guardian Crops and PISCOM merged under the banner of the Crops, with PISCOM's name marred forever by The Purge and the resulting mass murder. The Sanctum had been all but destroyed during the fall of Cocoon, with most of its leadership killed or missing. A new government had risen to replace it, a democracy that had focused on making sure that Gran Pulse became their new home.

Meanwhile, the former l'Cie had tried their best to stay together, all of them living in New Palumpolum. But even living in the same city hadn't ensured that they would spend time together, Lightning pondered. Sazh had taken up piloting again, flying cargo to and from towns. Snow and Serah still hadn't got married, thanks to Snow and NORA helping the Crops keep the city safe and Serah training as a teacher. Indeed, these days, they were all too busy to have any form of get together.

As Lightning ran, her eyes turned to the shimmering form of Cocoon, and the crystal pillar that held it aloft. She felt a familiar pang of sadness in her heart. _We owe those two so much,_ she thought. She shook her head, and focused on the beat her feet made against the pavement. After running for 30 minutes, she found herself back at her home. Walking inside and kickinng off her trainers, she saw Hope sitting on the couch in the longue, watching some child's cartoon. He was in his school uniform, and his schoolbag was on the floor next to his feet.

"Car. 5 Minutes," said Lightning, walking up the stairs.

"Gotcha," said Hope, not looking away from the television. Sighing, Lightning went upstairs and changed into her Crops uniform. It, at least, hadn't changed, but now there was a extra stripe on its shoulder piece. Walking back down, she noted, with pleasure, that the tv was off, and Hope was gone. A second later, she heard the sound of the garage down opening, along with her car being started. Grabbing her duffel bag, Lightning walked out of her home and locked the door.

"Shift it, Hope," She said, looking at the sliver haired teenager sitting in the driver's seat.

"But Liiiight..." Hope's whine was supported by his trademarked puppy eyes, puppy eyes that had the power to win even the icy Lightning over. Sometimes. And this wasn't one of those times.

"Hope. You'll be late. _I'm _already late. So shift it, or be shifted." A hand dropped to the hilt of the soldier's Blazefire Sabre menacingly. Hope gave a squeak, then quickly moved to the passenger seat to avoid being brutally murdered.

"Good boy," said Light, seating herself at the wheel and flooring it out of the driveway and down the street, ignoring the fact that Hope had forgotten to put his seat belt on and was currently obeying the laws of physics by being slammed against the car window. Light smiled. Nothing brightens her morning like scaring Hope to within a inch of his life.

"You're walking home, Hope. I'll be working late," said Light, leaning across the center panel and collecting her communicator which had fallen during the, somewhat suicidal, drive to Hope's high school, New Palumpolum High.

"Ok Light. I'm cooking?" replied Hope, shouldering his schoolbag and looking around for someone he knew.

"Yeap. Get inside Hope. You're late. See you about 10pm," said Light, shutting the car door and driving off, leaving Hope to run into the school's main building.

"You're late, lieutenant," said a male voice as Lightning entered the Guardian Crops Headquaters. Lightning spun, gunblade already half out of its holster, to find a man sitting at a window. He was around the same age as Lightning, and only had a few inches on her in height. Most of his face was hidden from view by a mop of shaggy, blackish brown hair that easily reached his shoulders. His eyes, hazel brown, flicked up at Lightning for a moment, before returning to the task his hands were preforming; cleaning his own gunblade, in his case a Axis Blade model.

"And you should show respect to your superiors, Sargent Ross," Light replied, her voice cold, but not unamused. It was a bit of a morning ritual at the HQ for these two. One would arrive early and comment on the other being late.

"Come on Lightning, its been a year and a half. At least call me Markus," said the man, Markus, flicking his gunblade into blade form and checking its edge. Like Lightning, he had joined the Crops at a young age. Unlike Lightning, he hadn't been turned into a l'Cie by a Pulse Fal'Cie. He had been at Palumpolum when Lightning, Hope and the others had turned a good part of the Crops garrison there into so many pieces. Indeed, he had nearly been killed himself, after having Snow and the Shiva Sisters put him through a wall. But, unlike so many Crops members that day, he was lucky. He had survived, and later escaped the Fall of Cocoon. Half a year later, when Lightning had rejoined the Crops and been promoted to replace her old superior, Markus had been brought in to full the hole in the command chain.

Him and Lightning had fought from day one. Whether it was over coffee, the last energy drink, or over who had to do overtime and write up the report for a patrol from a week ago, he and the elder Farron nearly came to blows over everything. It wasn't until Snow and NORA visited the HQ one day that they started to get along, when Markus nearly broke Snow's jaw for drinking the last 4 energy drinks, and then nearly broke his back as well when the larger man tried to take a swing in return. Lightning smiled at the memory, and the look of disbelief and pain on Snow's face at the time.

"Thinking about when I turned Snow into a punching bag?" asked Markus, knowing that it was the only thing that could make Lightning grin like a fool.

"Nope. Thinking about how you'll enjoy today," said Lightning, suddenly remembering _why_ she was in a rush this morning.

"Ok, what's happening and why should I be scared?" said the gunblade wielding man, giving Lightning his "what are you planning" look. Which was his normal look, but with a raised eyebrow. Lightning's grin grew larger.

"Monthly meeting. NORA's gonna be there."

"Oh, thank the Maker. Just what I need in the morning. A homicide charge."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Damn, this didn't turn out as well as I hoped. Not my best, but meh. Sorry if it drags on forever. Anyway, Next chapter. I want to know what should happen; Lightning beat down Markus, or Markus beats down Snow! Put your pick in that lovely review box. He won't bite, promise ;)

DISCLAIMER: I don't like being ninja'd to death. And thus, I own nothing in this story. Aside from Markus. He suffers because its funny :D

Chapter 2

As the rest of the staff of Guardian Crops HQ filtered in from the streets, Lightning silently went into her office, closed the door, and sighed. Her office was a mess. There was enough paperwork to crush a Behemoth piled on her desk, there was a stain in the carpet, thanks to Markus splashing her with a cold cup of coffee, and there were several different models of gunblades laying around, some leaning against the walls, others simply dumped on the ground. Again, Lightning sighed. It would be a massive help if High Command had the sense to buy this place a weapon locker. After removing a Lionheart model gunblade and a small pile of papers from her chair, she sat down and stared at the ceiling. This wasn't the way she had hoped to return to the Crops. She wanted to be out there, helping clean up the surrounding area and keeping the various large, and rather deadly, monsters at bay.

"But no. Here I am, a fucking desk jockey..." Lightning muttered darkly. She had the sudden, and rather overpowering, urge to pull out her Blazefire and "remodel" her office. She was about to stand and act on said urge when Markus opened the door and stepped inside, before quickly closing it.

"Mind if I hide in here?" he said, pulling the blinds.

"Yes, I do actually. It's MY office. Why?" Lightning replied bitterly.

"My sister is out there, asking for me. She wants money, I can tell," Markus shot back. Lightning rolled her eyes. On top of everything else, Markus was a tightass when it came to money. Lightning pulled Markus away from the door, opened it, and, literally, kicked him out of her office.

"Tayla, he's over here," she shouted over the growing noise in the office. There was a squeak, then a teenage girl appeared from the maze of desks. She was short, around the same height as Serah, and had Markus's eyes. That's where the similarities ended. Her hair was long and blond, she wore a school uniform, and a amused look as she beheld the sight of Markus laying on the floor.

Thanks, Lightning," she said, smiling at the pink haired woman, before kneeling down beside her older brother and starting to go through his pockets.

"Hey... Hey! Give that back!" exclaimed Markus, as Tayla slipped his wallet out of his pocket and removed a rather large amount of gil from it.

"You'll get the change, dearest brother. See you after work," she said cheerfully,waving at Lightning before running out of the building, leaving a somewhat shell-shocked Markus to look through his wallet.

"Holy shit! The little bitch took 5000 gil!" he shouted. Lightning tried her hardest not to laugh, before turning and stepping back into her office and shutting the door.

* * *

"Lieutenant. Meeting's about to start," said Markus, who was banging on Lightning's office door.

"Yea yea yea..." Muttered Lightning, pushing the door open and stepping out, carrying a small pile of paperwork. Looking, she saw that Markus had his own small stack of papers.

"Debrief papers?" she asked, setting a brisk pace as she navigated the maze of desks, and now people, towards the meeting room.

"Patrol reports, actually. I noticed something as well. Behemoth attacks are getting more and more common," he replied, his face looking somewhat worried at the thought.

"Most likely mating season," said Lightning dismissively.

"No. Thats not for another 2 months. And, get this, about half of these attacks were outside of Behemoth territory," Markus continued, before muttering a sorry to someone who he nearly knocked over.

"You know, Lightning, the best you could do is get good help," said the person Markus had walked into. The person's voice was familiar, and when Lightning looked at him, she saw a Afro containing a little speak of yellow feathers.

"Sazh!" Lightning shoved her paperwork into the bemused arms of Markus and hugged the black pilot.

"Good to see ya too, Light," said Sazh, patting Lightning on the back, more because she was crushing his ribs more then anything else. Lightning quickly caught on, and released him from her deathhug.

"I take it you know him?" asked Markus, handing Lightning back her paperwork with a look that said "don't do that again".

"He was a l'Cie as well, when Cocoon fell," replied Lightning, shooting Markus a death glare before returning her eyes to Sazh. He hadn't really changed much, aside from a few greys that had appeared in his afro and goatee. He still wore that horrible green jacket, and his trusty Vega 42's were in their holsters on his legs.

"So, why are you here?" asked Markus, looking the pilot over.

"What, aren't I allowed to make a social visit?" joked Sazh.

"Actually, no, you're not," replied Markus, his eyes and tone icy cold.

"Ouch. You teach him that, Light?" asked Sazh, grinning.

"No, actually. He's always been like this. Anyway, he has a point. Why are you here?" asked Lightning, her tone turning serious.

"Well, you remember how I rang up a month ago about those Behemoths I saw? Well, Commander Gauge asked me to fly some recon flights, and he "requested" that I be at the monthly meeting to discuss my findings," replied Sazh, making quotation signs with his fingers which clearly meant he was forced to come.

"Great. Gauge thinks he's better then everyone. Don't take it personally," said Markus, before he opened the door to the meeting room, dumped his reports on the table and turned to leave again.

"Where do you think your going?" said Lightning, eyes set to death glare.

"I'm getting a energy drink. Want one?" asked Markus. Lightning shook her head, but Sazh asked for 2, saying that he had been flying since 4am for the good Commander and was about to fall over. Markus nodded, before shutting the door.

"So, how you been, Light?" asked Sazh in a almost fatherly tone.

"Fine. Got a home, Hope's living with me and at school, I've got a job. Can't hope for much better then that, can you?" replied Lightning.

"Well, I've heard from Serah that all you seem to do is work," Sazh said, folding his arms.

"What of it?" snapped Lightning, folding her arms defensively.

"That ain't healthy, girl. You need to get out, have fun," said Sazh, grinning his trademark grin.

"She does have fun. You should see what she does to the trainees when its her turn to train them," remarked Markus, walking back into the meeting room and placing down two cans of energy drink in front of Sazh, who quickly grabbed one and started drinking. He then sat down, then yelped as Lightning kicked him, rather hard, in the shin.

"Jesus..." he moaned in pain, trying his best not to go for his Axis Blade.

"Serves you right," Lightning smirked. Sazh laughed.

"He's right. You do have fun. Just not the right kind," he commented.

"Then what IS the right kind?" snapped Lightning, itching to kick Sazh as well.

"How 'bout dress shopping with your little sis," said a booming voice from the door. Lightning sighed. The 'hero' had arrived.

"Hey Mark! What did she do to you this time?" said Snow, walking up to the Sargent and slapping him on the back, knocking the wind out of the man.

"Nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you drink my energy drink..." muttered Markus, seeing the way the giant blond was looking at his can.

"Its ok man. Brought my own this time," Snow said, pulling out a can from his coat pocket, before seating himself on the other side of the table from Markus and Lightning. Beside him, the rest of NORA were sitting down.

"So, where is Commander Idiot?" asked Markus, finally recovering from Lightning's kick.

"If you weren't so damn good at your job, Sargent Ross, I would have you discharged for that," said a cool voice. Markus spun around to see a man standing in the doorway, dressed in full PISCOM uniform.

"Commander sir... You're here on time, for once," commented Markus. _Seriously, shut up,_ thought Lightning.

"Yes, I am. And I _will _have you discharged if you don't show respect to your superiors, Ross," said Commander Gauge. Lightning stood and, somewhat unwillingly, saluted. She and Markus shared the same view of Gauge; He shouldn't have his job. He was a pencil pusher up to the Fall of Cocoon, when he was promoted to the Commander of all Guardain Crops forces in the New Palumpolum area. Within a year, he had about 30 complaints against him, ranging from workplace bullying, to poor decisions resulting in injuries and, in one case, the death of a Crops trooper. But, until High Commander found someone else to replace him, they were stuck with him.

"Morning Lieutenant Farron. Sazh, good to see that you are here. Team NORA, welcome. Alright, to business," Gauge said, seating himself at the head of the table. Lightning opened the first of her papers and began reading...

* * *

2 Hours later, Markus finished his, rather shocking, report on the increasing monster attacks.

"So, in conclusion, monster are attacking more and more, and we have no clue as to why?" summed up Gauge.

"Pretty much sir. Aside from the possibility that they just think that we're a easy meal, there isn't a reason for the attacks," said Markus.

"Thank you, Sargent Ross. Now, are there any other issues that we need to discuss?" asked Gauge.

"Well, there is actually," said Snow. Gauge nodded at him to continue.

"Well, you see, me and Serah have finally set a date for the wedding, and well... We're gonna need a couple of months off," said Snow.

"Hmmm... Well, aside from the, frankly disturbing, monster attacks that Ross discribed, you haven't been very busy, have you?" asked Gauge.

"No sir. NORA has been, for the last month, inactive," reported Lightning.

"Well, heres the thing. Serah wants Lightning to have time off as well," said Snow. Lightning glared at him.

"Well... Farron hasn't been that busy, have you?" Lightning shook her head. "Then its settled. Mr Villers, Leiutent Farron, and Sargent Ross have 2 months leave," announced Commander Gauge.

"Wait, why do I get leave?" asked Markus, glaring at the Commander.

"You have enough paid leave saved up to have nearly a year off. Shut up and take the time off, or I'll force you too," said Gauge. Markus muttered a "Yes sir" before standing and leaving the room.

"Sir. Thank you," said Lightning, evidently lying thorugh her teeth. She had no desire to have 2 days off, let alone 2 months.

"I know you're lying, Farron. Just take the time off. Spend time with your family. Enjoy your sister's wedding. Now get out of here, now," ordered Gauge.

"Yes sir," Lightning said, saluting bitterly.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: HAI. Now, I'm not happy with this chapter. I admit it. It took too long to finish and it just doesn't flow as well as anything else I've written. Although, I had fun writing about a drunk and hung over Serah and a slightly depressed Lightning. Don't kill me, fanboys-and-girls!

DISCLAIMER: Watery: (dodges throwing star) I own nothing! Except Markus.

Markus: Why do I suffer?

Watery: Because it's funny.

Markus: asshole.

Chapter 3

Lightning was sitting on the couch, watching some bad b-grade horror and eating a from a tub of low fat ice cream when Hope walked in.

"Lightning! You said you were working late," said Hope, surprised to see his guardian home so early.

"Commander gave me two months off. For Serah's wedding," replied Lightning, not even looking up, but rather shoving another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. Naturally, it was low fat ice cream, and chocolate favored. Hope walked around the couch to view his guardian properly. Her hair, normally well kept, had managed to fall out of place and was now falling down her back, as opposed to her shoulder. Her Crops uniform had been replaced by a baggy white t shirt, which read 'Life's a bitch and so am I!', and a pair of cut off jeans, which stopped just short of her knees. This, Hope had learned to recognize, was her in 'I need comfort' mode.

"What's so bad about that, Light?" asked Hope, setting his school bag down.

"Two months, Hope. Two. Fucking. Months. What am I supposed to do with that amount of time?" said Lightning, going for another spoonful of ice cream, only to find she had eaten the entire carton.

"I don't know. Help Serah organize the wedding, maybe?" suggested Hope, sitting down beside Lightning.

"Yeah. But still... Two months..." sighing, Lightning threw her spoon across the room, where it impacted with the wall and fell to the floor. Looking above where it landed, she looked at the clock. And froze. Hope froze too.

"Hope Esthiem, what are you doing coming home at 9 o clock?" asked Lightning, her voice turning icy. Hope gulped.

"Well... You see... The thing is..."

"Hope..."

"Iwasonadate!" Hope blurted out. Lightning blinked.

"Repeat that. Slowly," she said.

"I was on a date, Lightning," said Hope, this time slowly. Lightning stared at Hope for a moment.

Then fainted.

* * *

"So, you told her that you were on a date, then she fainted?" said a familiar voice.

"Yeah. Why would she react like that?" replied Hope's voice. Lightning groaned, then slowly opened her eyes. First thing she saw was that she was in her bedroom. The second thing was that there were four people in the room, along with her.

"Lightning!" said Hope, hugging the woman suddenly.

"Gah! I fainted Hope, I wasn't dying," Lightning managed to choke out.

"Let her breathe Hope," said a female voice. Looking for its source, Lightning found herself staring at her sister.

"Serah. What are you doing here?" asked Lightning, not unpleased to see her sister.

"Hope got a hold of me when you fainted, sis," replied Serah, who moved in to hug her sister once Hope released his death grip. Serah hadn't changed much, aside from swapping the shirt skirt combo for a pair of jeans and a smart looking shirt and jacket. Judging from the name tag on her jacket, she wore this to her training course and hadn't bothered to change out of it once she got home.

"Well, this isn't total true, babe," said Snow, who appeared beside his fiancée and was smiling.

"Well, true," said Serah, who helped her sister sit up and be able to see the fourth person in the room properly.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lightning, turning defensive.

"Hope's useless. Couldn't remember Serah's phone number, so I called her for him," replied one Markus Ross, who was leaning against the door frame. He was still in his 'uniform', if you could call it that, considering that it consisted of a pair of black jeans, a navy blue combat jacket and a blue shirt. The only thing regulation about it was the boots, which were standard Crops combat boots, and the shoulder piece, which denoted his rank. Lightning noticed that it was missing; he must take it off after his shift is over. The only reason that the good Commander, or herself for that matter, didn't pull him up on it was the same reason why he hadn't been discharged already; he was just a damn good soldier, regardless of disrespect for any form of authority.

"And you know it, how?" questioned Lightning.

"I do have a computer, Lightning. I accessed the Crops database and pulled up your record. She's down as your emergancy contact," said Markus simply.

"Wait. Hope. How on Pulse do you know _his _phone number?" asked Lightning, now really confused. Hope, for whatever reason, blushed.

"Well, he didn't get it from me. He got it from my sister," said Markus, who was smirking for some reason.

"Wait a minute..." Lightning processed what he had just said. A series of thoughts ran through her mind. Markus being mugged by his sister and crying about the amount she took. Hope coming home late and saying he was on a date. Markus's smirk and statement. Then it clicked.

"You went out with _his sister_?" Lightning practically screamed at Hope, causing the poor boy to hide behind Serah.

"Wait, what?" Snow said, looking at Markus.

"Yeap. Hope went out on a date with Tayla, my little sister. Kinda funny, when you think about it," said Markus, chuckling.

"But... Its... Oh my God..." Lightning's vision swayed, her mind threatening to shut down.

"Oh no, no fainting on us again!" said Serah, who walked up, and shockingly, slapped her sister across the cheek. Everyone stared in shock. Lightning sat there for a moment, totally stunned.

"Jeez, Lightning. You're acting like Hope murdered me or something. He went on one date with your work-mate's sister. Big deal," said Serah, her hands on her hips. Lightning saw, somewhat unwillingly, how her sister would make a good teacher. Shaking her head, Lightning brought herself back from lala land and glared at Markus.

"_You_. You planned this," stated Lightning.

"What? Hell no. I was as shocked as you were when your little sheep showed up at my doorstep after walking my sister home. Although, I'm sure I didn't faint," said Markus.

"You cracked up laughing and didn't stop for 15 minutes. We thought you had lost it or something," said Hope, somewhat bitterly. Obviously the sheep comment stung.

"That, somehow, wouldn't surprise me," said Lightning, folding her arms. She was still having trouble processing the fact that Hope was on a date with her workmate from hell's sister, let alone the fact that he managed to get a date in the first place.

"I'm shocked, Hope. You didn't ask me for help or anything," said Snow, smiling and slapping the teenager on the back. Height gains or no, Snow still had the ability to knock the wind out of Hope any day of the week, and it was a few moments before he could reply.

"I was scared you would find some way to screw it up," said Hope, grinning and punching Snow on the arm in return.

"I'm hurt, man. That stung," said Snow, a somewhat hurt look on his face.

"No, really. How _did _you managed to convince my sister to let you marry her, anyway?" asked Lightning.

"That, sis, is a secret known only to males," said Snow, grinning. Markus sighed, then walked over and punched Snow on the arm. The giant yelped and grabbed his arm.

"Ouch! What the hell man, that hurt," he said.

"Oh shut up, you're annoying me _and_ her. I didn't even punch you that hard," said Markus, who then punched Snow again for good measure and winked at Lightning. Lightning sighed, then checked the time. 1:12am.

"Hope! Bed! Now!" She shouted. Hope groaned, having been caught out. Lightning just glared at him. He was in his room changing into some sleeping clothes within 15 seconds. Lightning then turned the glare on the others.

"Get out. I want some sleep." That was all she said, but all three of them knew that the real threat came from her glare, and bolted out of the room, turning the light off on the way out.

"So, now what?" asked Snow, as he made his way down the stairs.

"I don't know, 'hero'. You'll think of something," replied Markus, not unfriendly. He may not always get on with Snow, but he was far past beating him down for stealing drinks.

"Well, neither of you are driving home," said Serah sternly.

"Whatever. I'll crash on the couch then," said Markus, who jumped onto the couch and laid down on it. Snow sat himself down on a armchair, Serah seating herself on his knee. Markus thought for a moment, then stood back up, grabbed out his car keys, and headed for the door.

"Markus..." Serah started but he waved her off.

"I'm not going anywhere, just getting something," he said, before opening the front door and walking out to his chair. He returned a few moments later carrying a backpack, which he dumped on the floor beside the couch and unzipped.

"What's in that?" asked Snow.

"Essentials," replied Markus, before making a sound of satisfaction as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Markus, just no," said Serah, already noticing the look that Snow had on his face. She slapped his thigh.

"You know you want to, Serah. Besides, its Eden brewed. 40 years old," said Markus. Serah shook her head.

"Well, I want some man," said Snow. Markus laughed, then stood and got out two shot glasses from Lightning's kitchen.

"Why does Claire have shot glasses?" said Serah.

"She has a bottle of vodka somewhere. I can smell it on her some mornings," Markus replied as he walked back into the lounge, before tripping on something. He didn't fall over or drop his cargo, but he managed to kick something across the room.

"Hey, the kid's got a Xbox," said Markus, noticing what he had tripped on and seeing it was a cord running from the console to the TV.

"yeah. He's got Halo as well," said Snow, pouring himself a shot and swinging it back. Markus did the same as soon as he had sat down.

"Think he'll mind us playing a few games?" Markus asked.

"Nah. He shouldn't," said Snow, already reaching for a controller and turning the console on. Serah just sighed.

"Boys..." she muttered, watching as the two males began killing each other in the video game. She saw Snow's shot glass, and stared at it for a moment, deep in thought.

"Fuck it. I'm allowed to enjoy myself every once in a while," she said, pouring herself a shot of whiskey. Holding the small glass in front of her, she took a breathe and drunk it in one go, as Snow had. She gasped as the liquid seared her throat, and thumped on her chest.

"Hahaha. Snow, Serah's dying over here," said Markus, pausing the game to get the poor girl a glass of water, pausing only to grab something from the fridge on the way.

"Jeez... Ah.. How do you two drink that stuff?' Serah gasped, thanking Markus as she took the glass of water and drinking it in one go.

"Years of practice," replied Snow, smiling. Markus shook his head, then held up a bottle of cola.

"What's that for?" asked Serah.

"If you're gonna get drunk with us, we don't need you dying on us. Mix some whiskey with a glass of this. You'll have a easier time drinking that," replied Markus, handing over the bottle of cola, before pouring himself a second shot and handing the whiskey over to Serah.

* * *

Lightning staggered downstairs at 10am in the morning. She made her way to the kitchen, read the note from Hope saying he was sorry and that he should of told her about his plans (and that he had taken her car), made herself a coffee and sat down at the table.

And then noticed the chaos in her lounge.

The TV was still on, the game menu for Halo glaring out at her. There was a empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table, along with a mostly empty bottle of cola. Markus was snoring away on the couch, using his jacket as a pillow and a thin blanket thrown over him. Snow was asleep on a armchair, Serah curled up on his lap. Serah, Lightning noticed with some shock, wasn't wearing a shirt, only wearing a black bra on her top half. Thankfully, she was still wearing her jeans.

Naturally, Lightning was _pissed._ She went to the sink, poured a glass of water, walked over to Markus's sleeping place, and threw the water at his face.

"Gah! What the fuck?" Markus shot up, groping for his Axis Blade, which Lightning quickly kicked away.

"Why are you, Snow and my little sister passed out in my longue, with a empty bottle of whiskey?" Lightning asked, her eyes boring holes into Markus's forehead.

"Well... Serah wouldn't let me go home and get drunk... So, I decided that your longue was as good a place as any. Its not my fault they joined in," said Markus defensively, still groping for his gunblade.

"Yes it is. Serah hasn't drunk before, you idiot," said Lightning, who kicked the hand searching for the gunblade.

"Ow! Yes she has. She was telling us all about the times she and Snow went partying with NORA. Sorta jealous," Markus said, rubbing his abused hand.

Lightning just tsk'd and went back to her coffee. She was not in the mood to deal with hung over friends, let alone her sister.

"Why is my sister not wearing a shirt?" asked Lightning grumpily.

"I honestly have no idea. I think, at some point, we ended up playing strip Halo," replied Markus, who was in the process of staggering to his feet and heading for the kitchen.

"Coffee's in the red tin," said Lightning, waving in the general direction of said tin. Markus muttered a thank you, then proceeded to make himself a very strong coffee.

"I have to say, you handle hangovers very well," Lightning said, watching as he sat down across from her at the table.

"Years of practice," replied Markus, before he drunk a large amount of his coffee in one go. Lightning took his looks in. His hair was stuck out all over the place, making him look like some chocobo human hybrid, and his normally tidy clothing was messy and crinkled. Although, she thought, his hair is cute, in a weird sort of way.

Lighnting Farron blinked in shock. Did she _really _just think that? Outwardly, she betrayed nothing, but internally, she was beating her head against the table. She was distracted from her self loathing by a horrible noise, something between nails on a chalkboard and a dying cat.

"What the hell was that?" Markus said, rubbing his forehead, before flinching as the noise sounded again. This time, Lightning managed to locate the source. Serah. Her younger sister was slowly waking up, and experiencing the horrors of a hangover.

"Uhhhh... I'm dying..." she muttered, loud enough for Markus and Lightning to hear her.

"No, you're not dying. You've got a hangover," said Lightning.

"And a pissed off sister," Markus added, quickly pushing his chair away from the table as Lightning kicked out at him.

"I wanna die... This is horrible..." Serah said, slowly sitting up and holding her head in her hands.

"Serves you right for getting drunk," said Lighnting, somewhat coldly.

"Go have a shower. You might feel better," said Markus. Serah nodded, then tried to stand. She quickly found herself back in Snow's lap, her legs refusing to work.

"I'm never drinking again," she moaned, seemingly on the verge of tears. Lightning responded by helping her sister stand and walking her up the stairs to the bathroom, leaving Markus to deal with Snow.

"Wake up, oaf," Markus yelled, throwing a cup of water at the giant's face. He got a twitch in response. Markus sighed, then clicked his fingers and went to his backpack. After digging around for a moment, he found what he was looking for. A Guardian Crops standard issue Manadrive. Markus slipped it onto his wrist, then turned back to Snow.

"Right then... Water!" the drive responded, creating a orb of water, which Markus directed at Snow's face at a high speed. This time, he got a good response. Snow bolted upright, coughing and blinking in shock.

"Oh man... what's the time?" he managed to said through the haze in his mind.

"About 10:30. Serah's fine. Light's putting her through the shower," Markus said, answering the question on Snow's lips.

"Ok. Coffee?"

"That way mate." Markus pointed at the kitchen. Snow nodded, then slowly stood and made his slow way to the kitchen. Once he had made a cup of coffee and was seated, Markus spoke.

"Hell of a night."

"Yeah. Halo was fun," Snow replied from the depths of his coffee cup.

"Agreed. Think I broke my controller though. Oh well. I'll buy the kid a new one," said Markus, somewhat guiltily, recalling when he had kicked the controller across the room after having been beaten by Serah.

"Well, in your defense, you were completely shitfaced," Snow chuckled, also remembering the event.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Whos idea was it to play strip Halo again? I can't remember and I wanna give whoever did a medal."

"I think Serah did, to be honest."

"Oh sweet mercy. Lightning is going to kill us when we tell her. Cause she is gonna ask."

A/N: Kekeke. Who should get beaten down next chapter? Snow or Markus? answer in that cute little review box, thx :3


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello all. More then one person asked for both Markus and Snow to get beaten down, and so here it is! I am, personally, proud of this. It may be short, but hey, whatcha gonna do? Also, to answer another couple of questions, no, there is no big plot coming. This will stay Lightning and the gang trying to live normally. And to answer the other question, NO, there will not be any LightxHope. Light is, and shall stay, in my eyes Hope's mother figure. As for LightxMarkus, well... I'm still undecided. Also, upon uploading to Fanfiction, I noticed that this is the shortest chapter so far. I'm sorry, and I'll try to make them longer! I don't want to end up writing in my Pilgrim's style (eg, short chapters that don't have much in them but add up).

DISCLAIMER: (knocks a random bunny off his head) The beast of the Castle Arrrrggghhhh will become real before I own Final Fantasy. I, however, do own markus.

Markus: Much to my displeasure.

Watery: Shut up and keep scrubbing.

Chapter 4

Lightning sat at the dinner table, glaring a hole through Snow's and Markus' confidence. The two males were in the shit, and they knew it. Serah would be glaring at them as well, despite her joining in on their drunken fun, but she was cooking the four of them breakfast, saving them from a painful death at the hands of Lightning's cooking. Markus and Snow, however, were wishing that she was cooking. At least they would die quickly.

"So, you got drunk, played strip Halo with my little sister, broke one of Hope's controllers, AND passed out in my lounge," said Lightning.

"Yes ma'am," replied Markus, who, much to Lightning's pleasure, was scared, even only a little.

"Not only that, but you ruined my favorite arm chair by casting a Water spell on it while waking up Snow," continued Lightning, her eyes narrowing. Markus shifted in his seat.

"Don't worry sis, I'll pay for it to be repaired," said Snow, making the mistake of appearing cocky.

Lightning twitched.

Markus was out of his seat and running for the door within 2 seconds. Snow soon followed suit, chased by a God almightily _pissed _Lightning Farron, wielding her Blazefire Sabre.

"I AM NOT YOUR SISTER!" she yelled, swinging at Snow as he dived out the door, catching his coat and ripping it.

"Fuck! Markus! Save me!" shouted Snow, scrambling to his feet and dodging Lightning's attempt to behead him.

"You're on your own, mate," replied Markus, who was in the process of trying to unlock his car door. He jumped when Lightning flicked her gunblade into gun form and shot the keys right out of his hand. Markus blinked, then ducked as Lightning tried to behead him.

"Come on, Lightning. No need to kill us," he said, rolling to avoid losing his arm. Lightning just growled before kicking him square in the chest and sending him across the lawn.

"I tihnk she's beyond reason, boys," said Serah, who was standing in the doorway but making no attempt to save the two males. Instead, she was trying to stay standing, her legs growing weak from laughing.

"You don't say!" was the reply from both off them. Snow tried to grab Lightning's arm and rip the gunblade away from her, but she kneed him in the crotch and elbowed him square in the nose. She then lashed out at Markus with the Blazefire, but it met Markus's Axis Blade.

"Come on, Farron. That all you got?" said Markus, grinning. Lightning gave a animalistic howl, then unleashed a flury of blows with her gunblade. Markus deftly blocked most of them, and dodged the rest. Snow tried to sneak up on Lightning, but she spun and round-housed him square in the jaw, sending him back into the dirt. She then flicked her wrist and cut the sleeve of Markus's jacket. He stared at it for a moment, then ducked as Lightning tried to cut his throat, and then kicked at Lightning's outstreached hand, knocking the Blazefire Sabre from her grip.

She didn't miss a beat, opting to tackle him to the dirt, stradle him, and proceed to start repeatedly punching him in the face. Markus quickly brought his arms up to cover his face, until Snow grabbed Lightning and pulled her off the poor man. She responded by quickly punching him three times in the face, then kicking him back to the dirt as he recovered.

"Okay, that's enough," said Markus, who tackled Lightning to the ground and pinned her arms down. She glared at him, then realized just how suggestive their position was, then lashed out with her leg and caught him between the legs.

"Oh god..." Markus moaned in pain, rolling off of her and adopting the fetal position. Lightning stood, retreived her Blazefire Sabre, flicked it to gun mode, then kicked Markus onto his back and planted her foot squarely on his chest, pointing the gunblade directly at his nose.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Lighting. No need to get a homicide charge this early in the morning," said Markus, eyeing the gunblade.

"Why not?" Lighnting replied, in a sugary voice that Markus took as his death warrant.

"Okay Claire, that's enough," said Serah, taking mercy on the boys and stepping over to her sister. Lightning spun to her younger sister.

"You. Were you drinking while I was caring for you?" she asked, her voice icy cold. Serah seemed to shrink in size.

"N.. No. Why?" she replied, slowly backing away from her sister.

"Lair," proclaimed Lightning, setting her glare power level to 'death'.

"Okay okay! I did drink, when I was with friends! They took me to parties. How do you think I met Snow? On the street?" Serah confessed.

"Hey, that hurt babe," said Snow, who was slowly staggering to his feet. Markus tried to lift Lightning's foot off of his chest. She responded by clicking the safety on her gunblade off.

"Claire. Let the poor man up. You've hurt him enough for one day," Serah said softly. Lightning grunted, then lifted her foot enoguh for Markus to roll away and stand up.

"Ah jeez... My favorite jacket too," he muttered, tugging at the torn sleeve and dusting dirt off of it.

"You're lucky you don't have blood stains on it," said Lightning coldly.

"I suppose. Not going to kill me as soon as my back is turned?" asked Markus, part joking, part serious.

"I might," Lightning replied, though her grin seemed to indicate otherwise.

"Oh my god Serah, I love you," said Markus, shoving another piece of bacon into his mouth and ignoring the dirty look he got from Snow.

"Well, thank you Markus, but I'm taken," said Serah, walking over and hugging Snow.

"Light here isn't though," said Snow, earning himself a whack over the head from Serah, and two seperate kicks under the table from Lightning and Markus.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I would be dead within a week. Chopped into many small pieces, most likely," Markus remarked, chuckling, before returning his attention to his plate. Lightning watched him as he eat. He ripped into his food like a starved Behemoth, she thought. And, although she agreed with Markus on the surface, deep inside she wondered if they would work together. She shook her head, slightly disgusted by the thought, only to be completely freaked out by the rather graphic image of her and him that her mind created a moment later. She stood up suddenly, blurted out something about needing to go the bathroom, then bolted up the stairs.

"Wow. What's got under her skin?" said Markus, confused. Serah chuckled.

"To hazard a guess,you," she said. Snow gave her a look of confusion.

"Really? I mean, if there's anyone who could survive her, it'll be Markus, but _really_?" he said.

"I'm guessing," Serah replied simply. Markus sighed.

"Nah. I think there's something in your cooking," he said. Serah glared at him. He really saw the family resemblence in that moment.

Lightning stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. What she saw was her, but her eyes were slightly shellshocked and scared.

"Jesus, Farron. You've been hanging around with Hope and Snow too much," she muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair. She blinked a few times, trying to dispel the images her mind kept creating, to no avail. Sighing, Lightning grabbed her hairbrush and started dragging it through the knots in her hair, before reaching into the shower and turning the water on. She thought about it for a moment, then spun the temperature dial all the way to cold. Gods knew she needed it.

A/N: Kekeke, Light's having dirty thoughts. Note that this doesn't mean that I'll make the two a couple, I did it on a impulse, and think its funny.

Markus: I will murder you and feed your in tiny pieces to my pet cat.

Watery: I love you too.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Bleh. Again, not happy with this chapter. Not much else to say really. Hope you like it.

DISCLAIMER: Hope: Since Watery walked off to kill some small animal, I'm here to say that he doesn't own anything in this story except for Markus.

Chapter 5

Lightning glared at the invader of her privacy. Namely, one Markus Ross, who was laying on HER couch, watching HER television, eating HER chips.

It didn't really help that she was in the arm chair 2 feet away, eating another carton of ice cream.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Markus chuckled, watching as the normally strict Lightning dug into the ice cream.

"Oh shut up. You're just as bad. And I believe that you're not the one who goes for a run every morning," Lightning shoot back.

"Well, I didn't see you running this morning," Markus replied, flicking a chip at Lightning's face.

"I didn't need to. Kicking your ass was enough exercise, think," said Lightning, grinning slightly.

"Ouch. That stung, Light," Markus said. Lightning shook her head, then looked up as a rather annoying sound emitted from Markus's pocket. He quickly dug his hand in, then pulled out a communicator. Reading the number, he flipped it open.

"Hello? Tayla? What's wrong?... Uhuh... Yea. Ok, I'll tell her. Bye. Yeah yeah, love you too." Cutting the connection, Markus looked at Lightning and said: "You're aout to get a phone call." Lightning gave a look of confusion, then jumped slightly when the home phone started ringing. Standing, she walked over to it, sighed, then picked it up and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Is Claire Farron there?"

"Speaking."

"I'm calling about Hope. There's been a incident."

Lightning and Markus walked into the office of New Palumpolum High School's principal, one Professor Ansem. He had blond hair, wore a red scarf around his neck and wore glasses that amplified the look of wisdom that he had. Besides Lightning was Hope, his hair scruffier then normal and his lip split. Tayla sat neck to Markus, shooting death glares at the other boy in the roof: A tall boy, with short blond hair and a sneer on his face, despite the black eye and nose that at some point was bleeding.

"So, tell me exactly what happened again?" Lightning said.

"Well, Miss Farron, young Seifer here made some rather rude remarks about l'Cie, and about young Hope here and his friends. Something along the lines of "all l'Cie should be sho, along with anyone who has been near them." Seifer then proceeded to push Miss Ross here into a locker." At this point, Markus' hand went straight for his Axis Blade. Tayla had to hold her brother's arm still to stop him from gutting the little punk. Professor Ansem waited for Markus to calm down, then continued.

"Mr Esthiem then attacked Seifer, employing a arm lock that I once thought was only taught to Guardain Corps members." Lightning smiled slightly. She had taught him that hold herself, after Hope was picked on at school.

"The little punk damn near broke my arm!" Seifer shouted, jumping up. Markus was on his feet in nanoseconds, gunblade drawn. Beside him, Lightning had mirrored the movement.

"Sit down, _boy_, before I gut you," Markus growled. Lightning said nothing, her death glare doing all the talking. Seifer seemed to shrink, before sitting back down. Markus stared at him for a moment, then sat back down, though his gunblade sat in his lap. Lightning opted to stay standing, beginning to pace.

"Now, what am I going to do? Seifer's actions were completely uncalled for, I admit. But, Hope's violent reaction was unneeded and I need to do something about it. Hmmm... Seeing as it is only a few days from the end of the school year, I suggest that all parties involved are removed from the school population until the end of the year," Professor Ansem said, already typing away at his computer. Seifer grinned, evidently enjoying the thought of a few extra days off, while Hope and Tayla groaned in displeasure.

"Now, any objections?" asked Ansem, looking up from his computer. Markus shook his head, as did Lightning. Hope and Tayla looked set to kill, but said nothing.

"Good. Now, if you will just sign here..."

"Can't believe that we got kicked out of school..." fumed Hope, sitting in the driver's seat of Lightning's car.

"And did you see the look on Seifer's face? He was looking forward to it!" said Tayla, sitting in the passenger seat with her arms crossed.

"That's not fair. That we get punished as well..."

"Well, you did nearly break his arm," giggled Tayla.

"He pushed you! How else was I going to react?" replied Hope, concentrating on the road.

"Careful, you'll turn into my brother, your that overprotective," Tayla said.

"Fat chance of that. I'll have to be a alcoholic gunblade user Guardain Corps member as well," said Hope. Tayla went quiet, and when Hope looked over at her when he was waiting for a set of traffic lights, all humor had fled from her face.

"Tayla, look, I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have said that," said Hope, worried that he had offended her.

"No, you're right. But... It's his way of coping. He has his ways, and I have mine," Tayla said, looking out the window.

"What's yours?"

"Why do you think I play World of Warcraft, silly."

"Why did we have to stop at Carbuncle Fried Chocobo?" asked Lightning, holding a bucket of chocobo pieces as Markus drove, and gritting her teeth at the loud metal music blaring from the speakers.

"Because it is the best fast food place ever, and I felt like some chocobo, damnit," replied Markus, doing a good job of putting the fear of death into ever other motorist on the road.

"But why do I have to hold it?"

"Because its my car, and no one else drives it."

"Fine then." Lightning then drove her hand into the bucket and pulled out a piece of chocobo, and started eating.

"You know, this isn't half bad," she said, slightly surprised by the taste.

"By Erto, Lightning. I'm such a bad influence on you," Markus said, chuckling as he pulled his car up outside of Lighnting's house.

"Hey, Hope didn't crash my car," said Lightning, stepping out of the car and walking up to her house, comsuming another piece of chocobo in the process.

"Well, good on him. He's learned to take care of his car. Next lesson; How to look after a woman," Markus chuckled, dodging the piece of bone thrown at him. Lightning then shook her head and opened the door.

"Hope, I'm home. We had to make a detour," Lightning said.

"Really? Oh. My. Gods. CFC! I love you Light!" Hope exclaimed, his head appearing from behind the couch's headrest and lighting up at the bucket of chocobo pieces.

"CFC? Yum!" Tayla's head appeared next to Hope, her face lit up with delight as well. Markus walked in after Lightning.

"Thought you would be here," he said, walking over and messing up his sisters hair, who immediately backed away and tried to flatten it again. Hope laughed for a moment, then stopped at turned to Markus.

"_You_... You broke my Xbox controller!" With a howl, Hope lunged at Markus, who simply sidestepped him and tripped him up, sending him to the floor.

"It was accident, I was drunk, and I'll buy you a new one as soon as I can, alright?" he said, looking down at the teenager.

"Alright... I guess..." Hope said, though he still looked pissed. Markus chuckled, then went into the kitchen and helped himself to a chocobo piece.

"Seeya Tayla," Hope waved sadly, as Tayla and markus made their way to his car.

"I'll come 'round tomorrow, 'kay?" said Tayla, waving back. Hope smiled and nodded eagerly. Markus laughed.

"Come on you, get in the car," he said, smiling at his little sister. Lightning watched as the two of them left, and thought. Markus was normally... withdrawn. Sure, he was open around Snow and Lightning and Serah, but that was because he trusted Lightning and Snow with his life when they were on patrol, and Serah was just so easy to get along with. Aside from them, he was generally mistrustful of everyone, even Hope. But his sister... Just the way he looked at her showed how much he cared for her. It sort of remember Lightning of the way she was with Serah, and is now with Hope. Lightning and Markus were, in a way, two sides of the same coin, at least when it came to their families.

"Lightning, you gonna come inside?" Hope's voice shook Lightning out of her thoughts.

"Yeah Hope, coming," she replied, walking in and shutting the door behind her. She walked to the couch and sat down on it. Hope followed her a moment later, with the bucket of chocobo pieces in hand. He quickly helped himself to a piece, then watched as Lightning grabbed another rpiece as well.

"Jeez, Light, he is getting to you," he said, watching as she ripped into the meat.

"Yeah, he is. And I hate it. Sometimes I feel giddy, and other times I want to strangle him and use his organs as christmas decerations," Lightning replied.

"Wow. That's, umm.."

"Disturbing?"

"Not the word I was looking for."

"Aha." A moment of silence.

"Light, do you like him?" Hope slowly backed away, well aware of what happened to those who annoyed her.

"To be honest... Yes. I do, Hope," came the unexpected reply.

"Wow. Never expected that," said Hope, honestly surprised.

"Yeah. He just.. Doesn't try to do anything. He knows his limits, he knows when to push them and he knows when he's gone too 's just..."

"You."

"Pardon?" Lightning spun to look at Hope.

"He's you. I mean, he's you from before everything. He works, he goes home, he talks to his sister, he sleeps. At least, that's what I've been told. But he also reminds me of Snow a little. He can be fun as well. He laughs, he has fun. He's..."

"Weird."

"Exactly. That's the word I was looking for."

"You think he's a bad influence on me?"

"You have no idea, Lightning."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: HELLO. Sorry that first took so long. It just took a while to come together. That, and WoW stole a good amount of my time. Stupid addictive game... ANYWAY, hope you enjoy. I know that I enjoyed writing it! :D

DISCLAIMER: Markus: It saves me money saying that Final Fantasy 13 and all characters from said game are not the property of WateryMind. However, I am, and most likely always will be, his mind slave. Help me.

Chapter 6

_Two days later..._

Shopping and Lightning don't mix. They are like oil and water, except the oil is a bad tempered soldier with no issues with burning down a small city, and the water is a defenseless shopping mall. And Serah was learning just how badly her sister took shopping.

"Claire, please. Try it on," she pleaded, holding up a dress.

"Its pink. I refuse to wear pink," Lightning replied, folding her arms as if the action would protect her from the pinkness of it.

"It'll look good on you, I swear," said Serah, busting out the puppy eyes. Lightning sighed, then grabbed the dress and headed for the dressing room. Not even she could resist Serah's puppy eyes.

* * *

"Dude, this is gonna suck," said Snow, looking through a catalog of suits.

"You said it," replied Markus, also looking through a copy of the catalog.

"Why do we have to wear suits?" asked Hope, looking up from his catalog.

"Because, according to Lightning and Serah, a formal shirt and jeans are not clothes to go to a wedding in," said Markus, evidently irritated by his idea being shot down about 2 nanoseconds after he said it.

"Oh okay. Well, unlike you two, I already have a suit," said Hope smugly. He then proceeded to look for a escape route as he suffered until the combined glares of Snow and Markus.

"I'll burn your suit if you're not careful," said Markus, deadly serious. Hope nodded dumbly, not wanting either himself or his suit to die a painful death.

"Say, Snow. You do realise that you'll have to get you suit specially made for you. They don't normally make suits for people that are 2 metres tall," said Hope, trying to change the subject.

"Really? Maker damnit," Snow muttered. Markus just chuckled, thanking his lucky stars that there was a pre-made suit in his size.

* * *

"It's soooo cute!" Serah squealed.

"Its so pink," said Lightning, turning in front of the full length mirror to see all of the dress that Serah had picked. It didn't look THAT bad, Lightning thought. She would wear it if it was a different color, one that was so... pink. It was strapless, and came all the way down to her knees, showing a decent amount of leg. It, however, wasn't tight at all, and let her move properly, unlike almost every other dress that she had tried on today.

"Ok fine, I'll wear it," said Lightning, conceding defeat.

"Yay! You look great, Claire," said Serah.

"Yeah yeah. But I want a different color," Lightning continued. Serah sighed, then nodded. At least she had managed to get Claire into a dress in the first place.

* * *

"Damn Hope, you wear a suit well," said Markus, nodding in approval at Hope's choice.

"I don't know why I'm getting another suit, though," Hope said.

"Because the last time you wore that suit, it was last year for Lightning's promotion. You've grown at least 6 inches since then," said Snow. Secretly, he just wanted to make Hope suffer with him, but his reason was true, for the most part.

"That's what she said," Markus chuckled, allowing his mind to run rampart.

"Markus, keep you're bad jokes to yourself," said Snow, although he was chuckling. Hope laughed as well, then blushed red for some reason.

"What? Whats up, little man?" said Markus, despite the fact that Hope was taller then him.

"Those girls over there are checking me out," Hope said, pointing at a small group of girls outside the store, who were giggling.

"Nah. They are just in awe of my manliness and hotness," said Markus, grinning and winking at the girls. They giggled harder, then ran off to do something else. Hope sulked.

"Thanks, man," he said, kicking Markus. The offending man shrugged.

"Hey, its not my fault that I rock jeans, a shirt and a combat jacket like no one alive. Come to think of it, I would look good in anything," said Markus, posing in front of a mirror and looking at his jacket, jeans and 5 o clock shadow.

"Yeah, well, Lightning most likely thinks the same thing," Snow smirked, before dodging Markus' incoming fist.

"Say that again, I dare you," Markus threatened, holding up a fist.

* * *

"Well, alright. It's... Acceptable," Serah said, looking Lightning over. She had ditched the pink for a dark shade of red. It may clash slightly with her hair, but it look good, none the less.

"Well, I like it," said Lightning, before ducking back into the changing room to get out of it. By the time she had got back into her t shirt and jeans combo and exited the changing room, Serah had managed to find ANOTHER dress.

"No," Lightning said flatly. Serah's hopeful smile faded, then she sighed and turned to return the dress to its rack. She knew when she was fighting a losing battle.

* * *

"Well, it looks okay, I guess," Markus said, looking in the reflection of himself in the mirror. This suit, the fifth he had tried on, consisted of a plain button up jacket, a black tie, a red formal shirt and a pair of dress pants. He heard a girlish giggling and turned to see Serah and Lightning looking at him, Serah's hand over her mouth.

"You done, babe?" Snow asked, who was sitting on a chair nearby.

"Yeap. Even got Lightning a dress," Serah said, bouncing over to her lover and sitting in his lap. Lightning tsk'd and sat in the nearest available chair.

"Oh really? What color?" asked Hope, actually curious. He had never seen Lightning in any form of formal clothing outside of her uniform.

"Red," Lightning said bluntly.

"Oh really? Well then, looks like Markus needs a red shirt in his suit then," said Snow, grinning.

"I do have my gunblade on me, you know," Markus said, pointing at his backpack that sat beside his seat. Snow promptly shut up.

"But in all seriousness, Markus, are you gonna be one of Snow's best men?" Serah asked, trying to avoid her husband being murdered.

"I might. Why do you ask?" Markus asked, turning to look at Serah fully. Lightning tried her best not to stare at him too much. A little wouldn't hurt, she reasoned.

"Well, because we want the best men and bridesmaid's to match," Serah continued. Lightning glared at Serah.

"And I take you Lightning is one of your bridesmaids?" Markus guessed. Serah nodded. Lightning blinked, then thought for a moment.

"Oh hell no. You are NOT setting me and him up on a date, Serah," Lightning said suddenly.

"Awww. Why can't I?" said Serah, teasingly.

"Because I'll be forced to kill Snow," Lightning said simply. Serah shut up after that.

"Aw, come on Light. They're just teasing," said Hope, chuckling. Markus chose this time to make a dash for the changing room, both to escape Lightning's increasing rage and to get out of the suit.

"Hope, they are implying that I should go out with my immediate subordinate," said Lightning.

"Only because its funny. Although, now that I think about it, you two would be a good couple," Hope said, grinning a evil grin.

"Hope, need I remind you who's house you live in? Keep pushing your luck and you'll end up on Sazh's couch again," said Lightning. Hope decided that it was healthier to shut up. Sazh's couch was horrible, all lumpy and smelling of old pizza.

"Come on Lightning, they're just having a bit of fun. Admittedly at our expense, but fun never the less," said Markus emerging from the changing room in his normal choice of clothing.

"Well?" said Snow, looking at Markus seriously.

"It'll do. Need a suit anyway," Markus said, grabbing the suit from the clothing hook in the changing room and walking off to pay for it. Lightning watched him for a moment, then mentally slapped herself for staring.

"Its okay, Light. Stare if you want to," said Markus, grinning over his shoulder.

"Fuck you, Ross," Lightning replied.

"In your fantasies, Farron," came the reply. Lightning glared at him, then turned to the other three. Hope was struggling to stay on his chair, Serah had fallen off Snow's lap, and the giant himself was close to snapping the chair he was in like a twig. Lightning twitched.

* * *

Markus was slowly entering his Guardian Corps' credit card's pin number into the counter's computer screen when Snow, Hope and Serah came running past. Hope paused to hand Markus his suit, then bolted. Markus turned and saw a very angry Lightning chasing after them, gunblade in hand. The man at the counter gave them a weird look.

"You know them, sir?" he asked, finishing the transaction.

"Not at all," Markus replied, grabbing his credit card back and folding his suit into his backpack gently. As for Hope's, he just shoved it roughly into a plastic bag. Then something in Markus' head clicked. 1) His back was too light, and 2) He didn't remember Lightning bring her gunblade.

"Oh fuck! My Axis Blade!" Markus exclaimed, scaring the staff. He then shouldered his backpack, grabbed the bag containing Hope's suit, and ran as fast as he could after Lightning and her would-be victims, all the while shutting out the thought of his gunblade being used to murder 3 people.

A/N: Watery: Markus seems like the kind who would use the work credit card for his own needs.

Markus: I also used it to pay for something else.

Watery: Oh?

*Cloud and Vincent appear*

Markus: Make him suffer.

Cloud: Yes sir. *grabs Buster Sword*

Watery: Halp.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Merry belated Christmas! No, this is not Christmas themed, sorry. I actually have been writing this one chapter for 2 bloody weeks almost! It just won't come to me, and as such, I'm not completely happy with it, but oh well. Hope you enjoy it! And I'm sorry for some murdering of the English language this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Blahblah, i don't own Final Fantasy. There, happy?

Chapter 7

Markus was chilling on his couch after a hard day of preventing Lightning from committing homicide, watching Tayla get progressively angrier at some Xbox game that Hope had lent her. The game was some space marine shooter, except that the main gun that they used had a chainsaw on it. Markus hadn't really been paying attention to it, or his sister for that matter, choosing instead to focus on the mind bendingly difficult task of trying to pick out a tie that went with his suit. Which was the main reason why he didn't see that Xbox controller flying towards him until it smacked him on the head.

"Ow. What the hell, sis?" he moaned, rubbing his head.

"I can't pass this bit Markus. Help me, please?" begged Tayla, turning on the puppy eyes. Markus sighed. He knew that if he didn't help her, he would be buying a new TV by the end of the day.

"Fine, but only if you pick out a tie for me," he replied, tossing Tayla the booklet he was looking through and grabbing the controller. He very quickly worked out that 1) this game was insanely hard if you went careful, and 2) you needed to take cover, something that Tayla evidently wasn't doing. Markus quickly got into the game and cleared out the area where Tayla was stuck, then paused the game and passed the controller back to Tayla, who then passed the booklet back. Opening it, Markus saw that she had circled three ties, all of them a different colour.

"You know, sometimes I think you just circle them at random," Markus said, slightly amused.

"And I think that you really don't try when we play World of Warcraft together," Tayla shot back.

"Damn, now I've gotta try."

Hope was sitting in his room, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the World of Warcraft game that Tayla had lent him to finish installing. In the background, his stereo was playing a Goo Goo Dolls CD that Serah had forced upon him for his birthday. He had no idea why he was listening to it, or why it was in his CD player in the first place, but he couldn't really care less.

"Hope! Give me a hand, will you?" called Lightning from downstairs. Hope sighed, then stood and grabbed a shirt and pulled it on. Lightning didn't really like him wlaking around without a shirt on, for whatever reason. Once that was done, he checked the install, then walked out of his room and walked downstairs.

"Yeah? You called?" he said, once he had walked into the kitchen. Lightning herself was sitting at the dinner table, which was covered in papers. Hope suspected that more then one was work that she had brought him, and that quite a few were to do with the wedding.

"Help me out here. I can't pick," Lightning said, tossing a booklet at the teenager. Hope caught it, just, then opened it to find a women's clothing line.

"Shoes and maybe a handbag. Serah's forcing me to," Light explained, answering Hope's look with a almost scared look of her own. Hope shrugged, looked through for a moment, then pointed out a pair of heels that seemed to suit her and when back up to his room/cave. Throwing himself back into his computer chair, he grabbed his mobile and checked it to find a text message from Tayla. Opening it, he read: "Lol Mark may b addicted 2 Gears, babe. Can't visit 2morrow, got 2 help him with shit home. Gimme a txt when u have made a char on WoW, k? :)" Hope smiled, then sent back a quick "k", then stared at the message on the screen telling to insert the next disk, and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Markus liked World of Warcraft. Not because it was a good game, even if it was one. Not even because it took up his, rather large, amount of spare time. No, he liked it because, like many things in this life, Markus kicked ass at it. He regually handed entire raid groups their collective asses with his Human Paladin, and his Night Elf Mage was just plain scary if you ran into him without help. In fact, he only knew a few people that were as good as he was, and he was a direct relative to one of them. However, there were times where he wished he wasn't as good as he was. And this was one of these times.

[Lesara]: You paying attention, Hope?

[Marked One]: He's gone, sis

[Lesara]: stfu

[Light's Hope]: Lol

[Marked One] You know, you have mummy issues, Hope.

[Light's Hope]: stfu markus

[Marked One]: hahaha.

[Lesara]: Don't feed the troll, Hope

[Light's Hope]: wtf?

[Marked One]: Who pays for your internet, sis?

[Lesara]: Sorry.

[Lesara]: Anyway, whatcha doing, Hope?

[Light's Hope]: Running in circles.

[Lesara]: Lol

[Marked One]: No, really. He's currently doing laps around the middle of Silvermoon City.

[Marked One]: Its kinda funny, really.

[Lesara]: wtf is he doing in Silvermoon? Didn't he roll a Human Warrior?

[Marked One]: Im on my Blood Elf mage. I port'd him here.

[Lesara]: Aren't you helping him?

[Marked One]: I've killed 3 people trying to gank him already.

[Marked One]: Whats Light up to?

[Lesara]: Lol random

[Light's Hope]: Um, picking outstuff for the wedding, I think.

[Marked One]: Oh ok.

[Lesara]: MARK!

[Marked One]: wut?

[Lesara]: you killed me!

[Marked One]: lol, whoops :P

[Light's Hope] Lol

Lightning was in hell. Mainly because she only got around four hours sleep the pervious night due to Hope's continued laughing and his refusal to turn down the music he was playing. Luckily, she had a outlet that let her take out her anger at her lack of sleep on the source. Namely, teaching Hope how to use a gunblade.

"Come on Hope, you've gotta move faster then that," said Lightning, passing the teenager back his gunblade, a Edged Carbine, after having disarmed him within 15 seconds.

"Are you sure you're not mad, Light?" Hope asked, grabbing the weapon and settling back into a fighting stance. The weapon had been a 16th birthday gift, as had the promise of being taught how to use it.

"Of course, Hope. Now, again," replied Lightning, settling into her own fighting stance. Hope nodded, then charged and swung at Lightning. She easily blocked the swing, then twirled her blade and sent Hope's flying out of his hand. It flew through the air, before embedding itself in the house wall, about 10 inches from Markus' head.

"What is with you people and trying to murder me?" he said, eyeing the Edged Carbine with some aphension. Lightning glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What, aren't I allowed to visit a friend?" Markus replied, yanking the gunblade out of the wall and tossing it to Hope, who yelped and nearly dropped the weapon on his foot.

"Actually, no, you're not. I'm not in a good mood today Ross, now piss off," Lightning growled, evidently not in the mood for any form of human contact.

"Ouch, that stung Light," Markus replied, cluching his chest in mock pain. Hope had to cover a laugh with a coughing fit at this point.

"Hey, wait a minute. Weren't you supposed to be doing stuff at home?" Hope asked, recoving from his laughing fit.

"I am. I'm actually here to pick you up. Tayla tortured me into letting you stay the night," said Markus, his smile turning into a look of fear as Lightning advanced on him, gunblade still in hand.

"Wait, Light. Don't kill him. I didn't know anything either," said Hope, stepping inbetween Lightning and her prey.

"Really? Well... I suppose I won't kill him," said Lightning, flicking her gunblade into gun form and leaning it against the wall. Markus and Hope both breathed sighes of relief.

"But, if you want to spend the night at his place, your room best be spotless. Got it?" said Lightning, pointing a finger at Hope. Hope groaned, then nodded, picked up his Carbine and walked inside, leaving Lightning and a slightly less fearful Markus alone.

"If I say you look like shit, I won't be murdered?" said Markus. Lightning snorted, more out of amusement then anything else.

"You can say it. I know I look like shit today. Blame Hope for that," she said, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Yeah, I know. Like you, I was kept up all night. Unlike you, I'm used to it," said Markus, who had started to pace. Lightning noticed this almost immediately.

"You're pacing. You never pace," she said.

"I... I'm just... Gah. The wedding, no work. I'm bored out of my fucking mind. I spend most of my days on the computer or helping Snow with some small thing, when he really should be focusing on the big stuff, like, oh I dunno, getting Serah a bloody ring," Markus ranted. Lightning just stood and stared. This was the most that Markus had said in one go for as long as she had known him. Blinking, she shook her head, then spoke.

"So, you're bored?" she asked.

"Pretty much. It's times like this that I miss my friends..." his voice trailed off as he turned and looked at the shadowy form of Cocoon. Lightning followed his gaze and clicked almost immediately.

"We all lost friends and family during The Fall," she said softly.

"I know. Just... Some people lost more then others," Markus replied, then turning and walking inside, leaving Lightning to process what he had said. As she did, her mind slipped back in time, to a very familiar place...

_Two Years Earlier..._

_Lightning was tired. She hadn't slept for nearly three days. But she refused to let herself could sleep when the people of Cocoon, or what was left of them, were safe and sound._

"_Ha, like that'll happen..." she muttered, before continuing her patrol around the small tent city that had appeared near a river. She had known that the local wildlife wouldn't take kindly to the appearance of all these people, but even she was surprised by the hostile response to their presence. Her train of fought was interrupted by a scream nearby. Mentally slapping herself, Lightning ran as fast as she could towards the sound. She was soon joined by Snow and Gadot, nodding at the blond. The three of them rounded a corner to find a King Behemoth had wandered into the camp and had already ripped apart a tent. The source of the scream was quickly found; a teenage girl, not much older then Hope, was trying to crawl away from the beast, although her limbs seemed to be frozen in fear. Lightning swore, as did Snow. The Behemoth wouldn't have been a problem if they still had their l'Cie magic, but that had vanished with their brands. The girl screamed again as the Behemoth roared and raised a paw to end her life..._

"_Get away from her you fucker!" came a shout, before Lightning, Snow and Gadot jumped at the sound of gunshots. She quickly found the source; a man wearing a Guardian Corps shoulder piece, a gunblade in hand, pointed at the beast, barrel smoking. The gunshots did nothing but annoy the Behemoth, and it turned its attention to the man, as the girl scrambled to safety..._

"Lightning, you coming in or what?" Lightning was brought back to the present by Markus' voice. She nodded.

"Yeah." She then walked back inside as the sky started to cloud over.

A/N: Ooooh, flashbacks. Yes, I intend to finish that little flashback at some point. Maybe next chapter. Anyway, rate and review, you scrubs! :D


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: HELLO MY PRETTIES! It is I, WateryMind, bringing you a, VERY, delayed chapter of After the End. First things first: OMFG I'M SORRY. First there was drama at home, then there was school, then there was drama and school, and then there was writer's block. So yeah, I've, literally, just finished writing and editing this. So this is hot off the press, people! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the fluff!

DISCLAIMER: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy and all characters therein, blahblahblah, moon = sheep and don't stand in the fire :D

Chapter 8

Markus may have many, many faults, but he knew how to make a good coffee, as Lightning was finding out.

"How on Pulse did you learn how to make this?" she asked, sipping at the brown liquid in her mug. It tasted almost exactly like the coffee that her favourite cafe in Bodum used to make, nice and chocolatey.

"Years of practise and many, many hangovers," Markus replied, leaning against the kitchen bench and sipping his own coffee. From upstairs they heard various banging noises, followed by a string of swear words.

"I said clean your room, not put a hole in the wall," Lightning called, an amused look on her face. Markus shook his head at the sound.

"He sounds far too eager to leave your house. You sure you're treating him right?" he asked teasingly.

"I still have my gunblade," Lightning replied, although the small smile gave her away. Casting her eyes to the window, Lightning saw her namesake flashing in the distance.

"That looks like a nasty one, eh?" Markus said, following Light's gaze to the window. "Thank god we're off, else we would have to deal with anything that happened."

"There is a thing called on call," Light replied, still staring out the window. Across the horizon, a bank of black clouds had formed, and were rapidly moving towards the city.

"True that. I'll call Tayla. Tell her to bunker down," Markus said, pulling out his phone. Meanwhile, Lightning stood and ran upstairs, banging on Hope's door as she went past. Said teenager stuck his head out the door.

"Whats with the rush?" he called.

"Look out the window," came the reply. Hope did just that.

"Okay, yeah. Big one," he said, running out of his room and helping Lightning shut the house up.

Summer storms on Gran Pulse are nasty affairs at the best of times. Lots of thunder and hail. The one that was now descending upon New Palumpolum was nasty, even for Pulse. Barely an hour after the first lightning flash was seen on the horizon, the storm was already lashing the city. In Lightning's longue, four peoeple sheltered, some huddling under blankets, more for comfort then warmth.

Hope, sharing a blanket with Tayla, with a arm draped around her shoulders.

Tayla, clinging to Hope like her life depended on it, her eyes slightly wild with fear.

Lightning, under her own blanket, her Blazefire Sabre leaning against her armchair beside her.

And Markus, his Axis Blade in gun form, standing next to a window. Sighing, he pulls the blinds shut, then pulled a pair of heavy drapes across them.

"Shit's gonna get nasty, fast," he decleared, sitting on the floor at the foot of the couch. Silence reigned in the room for a moment, the only sound the distint, and ever rising, howl of the wind. Then, almost out of habit, Markus grabbed the television remote, and pushed the power button. Nothing. A moment later, the lights went out.

"Power's out," Lightning said.

"Just brilliant," Markus said, sighing.

Many hours later, and the wind sounded like the hounds of hell. Hope and Tayla had long fallen asleep, Markus had fallen into something passing for rest, and Lightning, as always, was awake, keeping watch on her family and friends.

A noise, Lightning went for her gunblade.

"Fuck its cold," Markus muttered, shaking himself awake and dragging himself to a seated position.

"Really?" Now that Lightning thought about it, it was getting cold. Shivering slightly, she looked down at Markus again. The man was shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked.

"Been through worse," was the reply, as Markus drew his knees up under his chin. Lightning watched him, chewing her lip in thought. In her mind's eye, there was a angel and a devil floating over her shoulders.

"_Share the blanket, Claire. He's evidently cold. Just look at him,"_ said the angel.

"_Yeah, look at him. Look at all that man. Go down there and sit in his lap. Indulge those fantasies, Lightning,"_ said the devil.

"_They need warmth, not sex," _said the angel.

"_what's the difference?"_ replied the devil. Shaking her head, Lightning sent the angel and devil packing, then stood and moved towards Markus slowly. Lifting his head, he gave her a questioning look. In reply, Light sat down beside him and draped the blanket over the both of them.

"What's this?" Markus asked, looking at the pinked haired woman.

"Sharing body heat," came the stiff reply. Markus smiled, then lifted his arm and put it around Light's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"What's this?" Light asked, trying to hide her blush.

"Sharing body heat," Markus replied, smiling at Lightning. She fought with herself for a moment, then flashed him with a rare smile and cuddled closer, seeking shelter from the cold. And maybe to be closer to him. Not that she would ever admit it.

By the time the storm cleared, it was morning. Hope was the first to awaken, groaning as he streached and winced when he realised that his arm was dead from Tayla's head resting on it all night. Said girl was slowly coming back to the world of the living, yawning and streaching herself.

"Sleep well?" Hope asked, kissing her cheek.

"As well as someone can in a storm," Tayla replied, yawning again before looking down at her brother, and blinking.

"What?" Hope asked, following her gaze and blinking in shock. Huddled under a blanket together, cuddled close to eachother, was Lightning and Markus. Lightning had evidently fallen asleep first, her head resting on Markus' shoulder, while his head rested on hers. Although the blanket hid most of their bodies, the two teenagers did not miss Markus' arm around Lightning's shoulders.

"Whoa," Hope and Tayla both said. Hope quickly grabbed the TV remote and pushed th epower button. The screen flickered to life, but Hope turned it off again before the sound could come through.

"What was that about?" Tayla asked. Hope's only answer a evil grinn, before he quietly ran upstairs, returning a few moments later with a digital camera. Tayla looked from the camera, to her brother and Lightning.

"Oooh, you are so dead," she said.

"Yeap," said Hope, grinning as he started spanning pictures.

Markus was brought back from his dream (not a very nice one, at that) by a annoying sound coming from his pocket. Groping into his jacket pocket blindly, he ulled out his phone, took the battery out in one deft move, and yawned. Opening his eyes, he saw sunlight filtering into the room. Smiling, he tried to shift and felt a weight on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw a now- awakening Lightning Farron.

"Mmm... What's the time?" she asked, opening her eyes and yawning in a very un-Lightning fashion.

"Dunno, haven't checked. Sorry for waking you," Markus said, the last part rather quietly. Lightning gave Markus a small smile, before standing up and streaching.

"Hell of a storm," Markus said, nearly blinding himself by throwing the drapes on the windows open.

"Agreed," Lightning said, looking around. "Those two most of left."

"Most likely to check out my place..." Markus' voice trailed as he noticed something on the kitchen table. Walking over to the table, and ignoring Light's 'What?", he picked something up and slowly went white.

"What? What is it?" Light asked, walking over to Markus and looking at what he held in his hands. In his hands was a, rather large, photo frame, one light recognized as a Christmas present from Serah to Hope. In it, was a picture of Light and Markus, cuddled u close underneath a blanket, the image framed by a heart shape. On the frame, there was a note, in Tayla's handwriting: "Blogged, Facebook'd and sent to all your friends and family :)".

Silence.

Then:

"HOPE!"

Snow and Serah were cleaning the mes sthe storm had created off their front yard when Snow's phone went off. A few moments later, so did Serah's.

"Huh," said Snow, pulling out his phone and reading the short message from Hope: "Check your email :)".

"You get that, love?" asked Serah, holding up her phone, the same message on the screen.

"Yeah. Should we?" he asked, remembering the last time Hope had done something like this. It hadn't ended well, for anyone involved.

"Can't hurt, I guess," said Serah, already walking back into the house.

Sitting down at the computer, Serah tapped a random key to dispel the screensaver, before opening the email cilent.

"There it is," said Snow, kneeling down beside Serah and tapping the screen. Serah slapped his hand away, then opened the email.

"Check this out! PS, please don't tell Lightning until she finds out herself! Hope."

"There's a image," said Snow. Serah nodded, then opened the image, and gasped as the image of Markus and Light came up on the screen. Snow, for his part, stared at it for a moment, then burst out laughing. Serah stared for a while, then giggled.

"Oh wow. Hope is dying this time. I'm sure of it," said Snow, finally recovering.

"Yeah. Although, it is a nice picture," Serah said, before jumping as her phone went again. Grabbing it, she read the message from Lighnting out loud:

"When you see Hope, tell him that we are going to kill him."

Then another message, this time from Markus:

"Slowly, and painfully."

A/N: Hope gone die next chapter :D


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hai! Ok, so this chapter may be a week old... Sorry, I have only just had a time to edit and upload. Anyway, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Blah.

Chapter 9

Serah and Snow were out on the lawn, brushing the last of the debris off their front lawn when a black car, dinged slightly and several branches stuck in the front bumper, pulled up out front of their house. The front doors opened, and out of them came a somewhat amused Markus, wearing his signature jacket, shirt and jeans, and a _very_ pissed Lightning Farron, wearing a maroon shirt with the words "What does not kill me, makes me a bitch" printed on the front and a pair of black jeans.

"Oh boy, here we go..." Snow muttered, before gripping his rake like a staff and bracing for impact.

"Where the _hell _is Hope?" demanded Lightning, who came steaming up the path towards her sister.

"Dunno. Haven't seen him," Serah replied, wavering slightly under her sister's glare, btu holding her ground.

"Please tell me he's here. I've been driving little Miss Murder here around for the last hour, and I only have so many lifes," Markus said, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Well, maybe you should stop cracking jokes!" Lightning snapped, spinning to glare at Markus. He just shrugged and waved Snow away from the two Farrons.

"He's here, isn't he?" Markus asked, once they were out of earshot.

"Yeap. I suggested that we ring Light, but Serah threatened horrible things if I did," said Snow, leading Markus to the side door leading into his home's garage. Markus thought better of asking what the horrible things were, and simply carried on.

"So where is he?" he asked, his hands slipping to his jeans pockets. In reply, Snow opened the door and lead Markus inside. In the garage, there was a car (Serah's), a small collection of tools (Snow's), a motorcycle (Lightning's) and a couch (officially Markus', but Snow and Serah had more need of it then he did and he had bought a better lounge suite). On the couch, partially hidden from view by a blanket, was Hope and Tayla.

"Hey big bro," Tayla said, giggling nervously.

"There you are. Had me worried," said Markus, smiling. Tayla sighed. This, combined with the lack of gunblade, meant that Markus was taking it a lot better then Lightning. Then Markus' glaze turned to Hope.

"You are a brave man, Hope. Not even I would of done that," he said, grinning. Hope sighed as well, and relaxed slightly.

Which was exactly when Markus hauled him to his feet and started frogmarching him towards the door.

'Hey! What the hell?" Hope said, before realizing what was happening. "Oh Fal'cie, please no! She'll kill me!"

"Come on Hope. You faced death how many times and survived? Once more can't hurt, can it?" Markus said, grinning, before dragging the poor teenager outside, towards his doom.

Outside, Serah had managed to Calm Lightning down somewhat.

"Look, he was meaning well. I mean, come on, it IS a nice photo," Serah pleaded, puppy eyes on full blast. Lightning was relenting, and Serah knew it.

"I guess... I mean.. I DO like the photo..." Lightning mumbled, so quietly that Serah barely heard her. Before she could compute the possible ramifications of that sentence though, both Farron's were distracted by the rather noisy affair of Markus dragging Hope around the corner. Clearly, the teenager was digging his heels in and begging for his life, Serah noted with some amusement, but Markus was having none of it. Serah looked back at Lightning, and saw that her murder face was back.

"Oh, this won't end well," she said, before running off to find Snow.

"Look, just take it like a man already! Face your problems," Markus said.

"I don't want to be a man. I want to be a angst-ridden teenager who takes his problems out on others! Anything but-" Hope's voice trailed off to a keening squeal that resembled a scream as Lightning yanked him from Markus' grasp, leaving the taller man blinking.

"_You._ You sneaky, coniving, little Judas," Lightning growled, her grip tightning on Hope's shoulders.

"Oh boy. I was hoping that Serah would of calmed you down by the time I found him," Markus said, sheepily. "Sorry kid, I just killed you."

"Really? I didn't noticed," Hope replied, voice dripping with uncharacteristic sarcasm. He squeeked when Lightning shook him slightly.

"I'm going to gut you and use your internal organs as-" whatever Lightning was going to use the terrified teenager's inedes for was lost as a familiar sound pierced the air. Markus drove a hand into a jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. Flicking it open, he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello? Oh shit, Commander. Hi. Um, bad time. Light's trying to kill someone. Huh? Oh, fuck me. Okay, we'll be there." With that, Markus snapped the phone shut and turned to Lightning. The amused look was gone, replaced by the look Lightning knew as Markus' soldier look.

"We have a really big problem," he said. Lightning let go of Hope, the teenager scrambling to safety.

"What kind of problem?" she asked.

"The angry mob kind. Get Snow."

* * *

By the time that Markus had navigated the debris ridden city, a rather large group of angry people had gathered outside of the Guardian Corps Headquarters. As Markus, Snow and Lightning exited the vehicle, they were overwhelmed by noise. They didn't get most of it, but they gathered that the people were pissed about something.

"Look, there's Gauge," Lightning said, pointing at her superior. The good commander was trying his level best to calm the mob down, to little success. In fact, he seemed to be making the people angrier, with his flailing of arms and yelling through a megaphone.

"The man is hopeless. What should we do?" Snow asked, turning to find that Markus and Lightning were gone. Spinning he saw them pushing their way through crowd.

"Oh shit," Snow swore, before diving into the crowd after them.

Markus reached the front first, pushing his way past a rather large 20-something man. The man, recognizing him, yelled at Markus angrily, grabbed him, and threw a punch. Markus responded by under the punch, before slamming a elbow into the man's mid section, before sweeping his feet out from underneath him and kicking him in the side for good measure. Then, he climbed up onto the crate that Gauge was standing on, ripped the megaphone out of the commander's hands, flicked his gunblade out of its holster in gun form and fired it three times into the air.

The crowd fell silent. Lightning took advantage of the pause to climb up beside Markus and glare at Gauge. Then, Markus flicked the megaphone on and brought it to his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, fucking yeah! We get it! You are pissed about the storm, and that it was unexpected, and that most of the city lost power overnight, and that we haven't done anything about it. Have you even fucking considered that most of the Corps was at home last night? With their fucking families? Put yourself in their positions! What would you lot do?"

Silence from the crowd.

Then, in a somewhat gentler tone, Markus continued.

"The Corps is not all-powerful. We are stretched thin, and very undermanned. We try our level best to keep you lot safe. But we can't be everywhere at once. So, please, if someone is hurt, try to help them. Find a doctor. Hell, find a nurse. Anyone who can help someone, do so. Please, for once, look after yourselves, even for just a little while."

Lightning and Gauge could only stare.

* * *

"You sure you don't want a promotion?" Lightning asked for the third time.

"Command doesn't suit me," Markus said. After his little outburst, Markus had passed the megaphoen to Lightning, who had convinced the crowd to go home and keep on their houses and the surrounding areas. After that, Markus had said about 5 words in the last hour, the last 4 words included. Markus' head flicked upwards suddenly. Light followed his line of sight, and saw Commander Gauge walking towards them.

"Oh boy..." Markus muttered.

"Sergent Ross. Lieutenant Farron. Thanks for pulling me out of the fire," Gauge said, his face even, but his voice wavering slightly.

"Your welcome. Can I go back to making sure my house hasn't fallen over?" Markus said.

"Wait, haven't you been home, Ross?" Gauge said, slightly surprised.

"No, I haven't. Been too busy making sure that Farron here didn't kill someone," Markus said, nodding his head at Lighnting. She just bowed her head slightly, suddenly feeling very selfish.

"Then why are you here, Ross?" Gauge said, uncharacteristically kind. Markus nodded, and bolted for his car, Lightning and Snow following.

* * *

Markus just _stared._ It wasn't a normal stare, either. It was the empty, hopeless stare of a man beaten. Markus' house had been built next to a tree that had proven too much trouble for the Cocoon colonists to remove. However, during the night, the storm had done what the colonists hadn't; felled the tree. Unfortunately, it had fallen onto Markus' house.

"Oh Fal'cie, Markus..." Snow said, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. The tree had smashed the roof in, right above where Tayla's bedroom was, along with part of the wall that Lightning knew protected the living area from the elements.

"I promised her a home... And now I can't even provide that..." Markus said. Lightning almost sobbed at the sheer defeated sound in his voice. The powerful, convincing, commanding Markus she had seen barely 2 hours ago was like a distinct memory.

"Why me?" Markus suddenly shouted to nothing in particular. "Why, in Pulse's fucking name, why is it always fucking _ME_?" He dashed forward and in a flash had whipped his gunblade out and was attacking the tree truck that had crushed his home. Snow stepped forward to stop him, but Lightning stopped him.

After 10 minutes, 10 heartrending minutes of watching Markus slowly break down, he finally threw his Axis Blade away with a cry. It skidded across the dirt, before landing in a pool of mud a few feet ahead of Lightning.

"Whoa... He loves that blade..." Snow said, looking at Lightning. She nodded in agreement. Markus loved that Axis Blade, almost as much as he loved his sister.

"Go, Snow. Go get Tayla. She needs to be here for him," Lightning said. Snow nodded, before getting into Markus' caar and driving off. Markus had left the car running in his shock.

Kneeling, Lightning picked the golden orange Axis Blade out of the mud and wiped it off as best as she could. Along the blade, she saw a inscription she knew wasn't normally on the blade. _He must of engraved it himself_, Lightning thought. Cleaning the rest of the blade, she saw a very simple inscription: _For all I hold dear, I take this blade._ Trying to think of what the inscription means, shhe stood and walked over to Markus. He was now sitting on the doorstep of his wrecked home, staring at the ground. Lighnting walked up to him slowly, before seating herself beside him slowly.

12 minutes, 32 seconds later, Markus gave out a sob. Lightning jumped. She hadn't heard a sound from him for that amount of time. Then, Markus started speaking.

"Fal'cie damnit, Claire. This was my home. _Our _home. Mine and Tayla's. A place where we could be _happy_. And I'm not even allowed that. You might have been cursed, Claire, but I may as well be as well." Lightning listened to him, took in all the pain in his voice. Then she realized something. _He called me Claire_, she thought. Markus was one of the few people who knew Lightning's name outside of her family and the band of l'Cie. But he never used it, ever. Then she snapped back to the real world when Markus spoke again.

"I lost _everything_ in the Fall. My parents, my home, my friends. All gone. Except Tayla. And now she'll be taken too," he said, before breaking down again.

"Why, though? She'll never leave you," Light said, putting a hand over Markus'. He didn't pull away.

"Not be choice. I don't have a safe home. I'm not a fit guardian for her anymore," Markus said. Lightning clicked immediately. After the Fall, the new governement had decreeded that any person under the age of 18 was to cared for by a parent, relative or chosen guardian. If those people were unable to care for the child properly, then the government would step in and take the child away. _And Markus now falls squarely under the category of "unfit guardian"_, Lightning realized.

"Oh Maker, Markus..." Lightning breathed. She hesitated, before pulling the man into a hug. It was awkward, and a bit too tight, but it was a hug nevertheless.

"What do I do Claire?... I can't lose her. Not now," Markus said, leaning into the hug. Light's mind was racing. She wanted to help her friend, but how?

A/N: AWWWWWWWWWWWW SADNESS. Poor Markus. Like I said, he suffers for your enjoyment. Also, a little Hope bashing :P.

PS, already half way through next chapter, so feel free to give ideas, just don't expect many of them to get into the chapter 3333 Rate and Review!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Well, this took longer then expected. If you noticed a difference between the writing style at the beginning and the end, its because I wrote the first few paragraphs straight after finishing Chapter 9. Anywho, hope you enjoy :D

DISCLAIM: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy and all characters within.

Chapter 10

_One week later..._

A week after the brutal summer storm had torn through the city of New Palumpolum, a shrill beeping awoke one Claire "Lightning" Farron from her sleep. Rolling over, she smacked the alarm clock beside her. It fell silent.

"Why do I even bother?.." Lightning asked herself. She had slept for about 3 hours the preivous night, having spent most of it tossing and turning. At times she was too cold, and pulled more blankets up over her body. Other times, she was burning up, and kicked the blanekts back down. She was fighting a battle with her body that she couldn't win. Rolling over, she looked at the clock's time display: 8:00am. Lightning sighed, then dragged herself out of bed and began trying to locate some clothing. Inbetween locating a suitible pair of pants and a shirt that was fairly clean, Lightning found herself looking at a photo. It was the photo that Hope had taken the morning after the storm of her and Markus. For a few days, it pissed her off immensly, but now it reminded her of how human the both of them were. _And of how much you feel for him_, the little angel on her shoulder said. _And how much you want him,_ the little devil said.

"Shut up, both of you," Lighting muttered, before grabbing a plain white shirt and pulling it over her head.

* * *

Markus awoke from his sleep to the smell of coffee, and the sound of Lightning swearing. Flicking the blanket off his head, he was blinded slightly by the lighting flitering through the longue windows. Once his sight had returned, he saw that Lightning was sitting on the armchair next to the couch, and promptly pulled the blanket back over his head. The source of her curse: Markus' jacket, which was tossed on it the previous night. More importantly, Markus had forgotten to check his pocket before carelessly throwing his clothes around, and thus...

"A knife? Really?" Lightning said, holding up the inch and a half flick knife that she had discovered in Markus' jacket's pocket by sitting on it.

"One can't be too prepared," Markus muttered, reaching out a hand and groping for something.

"4 inches to the right, Markus," Light said. Markus' hand adjusted accordingly, and found a cup of coffee.

"I love you Light," Markus said, dragging himself to a sitting position and sipping at the brown liquid.

"Sure sure," Lightning replied. The two had fallen into a routine of sorts in the mornings. It began with coffee and normally ended with the two trading remarks and barely veiled flirtations.

"So, whats the plan today, captain?" Markus asked.

"I was thinking, 'absolutely nothing'," Light replied. Markus nodded, then stared deep into his cup of coffee. It had taken a great deal of convincing to get Markus to suck his pride and accept Lightning's offer of letting him stay at her house, at least until he could find somewhere else to live. Tayla and Hope jumped at the chance to be under the same roof, although Markus and Lightning, displaying never to be repeated unison, had shut down any and all thought of sleeping in the same room.

"I know that I am a god amongst men, but it is really creepy when you stare at me, Light." Markus' amused voice broguht Lightning back to reality once again, before she felt her face grow warmer as her cheek flushed red. Markus just grinned.

* * *

By the time that Lightning had bothered to try to make herself look presentable to the outside world, Hope and Tayla had dragged themselves out of bed. His bedroom now clogged with through traffic, Markus abandoned any hope of a sleep in and he too dragged himself out of bed. As the three of them fought over who got to make breakfast first, Lightning stood under the jet of water in the shower, deep in thought.

_Fal'cie, having him in the house is driving me mad! I've never seen a man drink so much coffee,_ she thought, rather deatchedly. Mentally, she saw the angel and devil pop up yet again.

_Its not all its doing, Claire,_ the devil said, chuckling, before yelping in pain as the angel whacked her over the head with her staff. In hindsight, Lightning realised, the angel looked very similar to Vanille, while the devil resembled Fang.

_Shut up you! Although, I do agree. He is clouding your emotions, Claire,_ Mini Vanille said. Mini Fang, clutching her head, snortted.

_Clouding? The girl's more hot for him then a bloody Bomb!_ She said.

_You two are supposed to help me, not try to one-up each other,_ Lightning thought bitterly.

_But we do,_ Mini Vanille said.

_Yeah! We help ya make the right choice!_ Mini Fang added.

_And the right choice is?... _Lightning asked.

_Ask the man out already!_ Mini Vanille and Mini Fang yelled at the same time.

* * *

"Yeah, ask him out... Like that'll be easy... Wait, why am I even considering listening to those two?" Lightning muttered to herself while dragging a comb through her hair as she walked down the stairs to the longue.

"The first sign of madness is talking to yourself Light," said Markus, not looking up from his game of Halo. Evidently, he was winning, as Tayla's and Hope's faces were screwed up in concentration, while his was relaxed.

"Which puts you on, what, the 10th sign?" Lightning replied, before checking her phone. Seeing a message from Serah, she opened it and read the message.

"Oh damn! Get off that bloody game, Markus. We've gotta go," Lightning said, pocketing her phone and scrambling to find a pair of shoes.

"What, why? I'm forgetting something, aren't I?" Markus said, quitting out of the Halo game, leaving Hope and Tayla to wage war on each other.

"We both forgot something. Come on!" Light said, dragging Markus out the door behind her.

* * *

"Why am I here?" Markus complained, as he, Snow, Serah and Light trugged through the mall, with Serah at the head.

"Because you are the best man, and after the last shopping trip, I'm sure Hope has been tramatized enough," replied Snow, clapping Markus on the shoulder.

"And what about me?" Markus shot back.

"You're a man. Suck it up," Light said, exchanging a amused look with her sister. Serah surpressed a giggle, before leading them into a dress store.

"Oh Fal'cie, here we go..." Markus muttered.

Luckily (for the boys), the only reason that they were there was for Serah to confirm her dress order. While the Farron sisters were preocuppied, Markus and Snow snuck away to a nearby video arcade.

"Oh sweet, Time Crisis," Snow said, going straight for the light gun machine. Markus followed, eager to kick the taller man's ass at something else in life.

"So, what is up with you and Light?" Snow asked, dragging through his pockets for some coinage.

"How the hell should I know? I don't pay attention to that sort of thing," said Markus, holding some coins up in his hand. Snow took a few and pushed them into the machine, while Markus did the same on the other side.

"That's dodging the question," said Snow.

"How so?" Markus shot back. The game started playing the intro.

"You do so pay attention to that sort of thing. Besides, she's the only one that gets to boss you around," Snow said, grabbing a lightgun. Markus picked up the other one.

"Maybe because she's actually my boss?"

"So, what's up with you and Markus," Serah asked as she stirred her coffee. Once she had finished in the dress store, she and Lightning had found a coffee shop not far from the arcade that Lightning had seen Markus and Snow head into, and were now seated at a table just outside it.  
"What makes you think there is anything?" Lightning replied cooly, while staring intently into her mocha.

"Ouch. Defensive much? Well, there's the first sign," Serah said, slightly smug and looking it. Lightning aimed a half-hearted kick at her younger sister, but connected with the table leg instead.

"Ok then. What do you think there is?" Lightning asked between gritted teeth.

"Well, I think that you like him, and that you don't know what to do about it," Serah said. Her smug smile grew when Lightning uncharacteristicly red and turned away.

"So there _is_ something. So, what are we going to do about it, hmmm?" Serah said, looking at Lightning.

"_You_ are going to do nothing. As for me.. I'm still thinking, okay?" Lightning said, somewhat uncertainly. Serah just stared at her sister, then spoke.

"You sure you're okay, Claire?"

"I am not sure," Lightning replied, sipping her mocha.

"You are way too good at this," Snow said, having been game overed for a third time. Markus hadn't game overed once.

"Many because I shoot real guns for a living," the shorter man replied.

"So, now that you've kicked my ass at this, feel like talking?" Snow asked. Markus sighed, let himself die, and placed the lightgun back in its rack.

"I dunno man. I'm confused as hell, she's confused as hell. Hell, even Tayla is confused as hell, and she's damn better at relationships then I am," Markus said, leaning against a vending machine. Snow gave Markus a questioning look, to which Markus slammed a fist against the side of the machine, causing a can of soda to fall into the collection box.

"What? Its faulty, and they haven't bothered to fix it," he said, bending over and grabbing the can. Snow banged on the side of the machine. Nothing happened. Markus sighed and banged it again. A can fell.

"I swear, sometimes the universe loves you," Snow said.

"Hahaha. The universe hates me. Trust me," Markus said, his voice dry.

"Are those two stealing soda cans?" Lightning said, watching the two males next to the vending machine.

"Yeah. The machine is broken, so when you hit it in the right place, a can falls out," Serah said, following Lightning's gaze and finding it fixed on Markus.

"Claire. You're staring," Serah said. Lightning shook her head slightly, then turned her gaze back to Serah.

"There is something wrong with me," she said. Serah just chuckled and sipped the rest of her coffee.

"Well, theft aside, shall we see what's on the to-do list next?" Markus asked, flattening his now empty can with his foot, before picking it up and tossing it in the general direction of the nearest trash can. Snow followed suit.

"May as well. What's the worst that can happen?" Snow said, walking towards the table where Serah and Lightning were seated.

"Heya boys. Planning on paying for those sodas?" Serah said. Markus punched Snow in the arm none too gently.

"You had to say something," he said, smiling slightly as the bigger man jumped and swore.

"Well, you done mucking around? We've got more stuff to do," Serah said, standing and grabbing her things. Lightning stood too, her mocha still half full.

"You gonna drink that?" Markus said, pointing at the half drunk coffee. When lightning shook her head, Markus grabbed the cup and downed it in one go.

"Mmm. Not bad. Needs more sugar," he said, ignoring the looks he was getting from Serah and Lightning. Snow, meanwhile, had to fight to suppress a laugh.

"So, where to?" Markus asked, flashing a grin.

"Lets see... Decorations?" Serah said, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. Markus and Lightning groaned.

* * *

"Why am I here?" Markus said, currently the physical enbodiment of bored.

"Emotional support," Lightning replied. The two were sitting on a bench outside of a small party hire store, in which Snow and Serah were booking needed items from the wedding.

"Snow doesn't need support. He's head over heels for this wedding," Markus said.

"Who said anything about him?" Lightning said, flashing Markus a small smile.

"So, is this your way of trying to get some alone time with me?" said Markus, a very amused smile on his face. Said smile morphed to a grin when Lightning turned away, cheeks burning.

"Oh my god. The great Lightning Farron has emotions after all," Markus said teasingly. Lightning turned and glared at him, then punched him in the arm for good measure.

"Ouch... How did you guess I like it rough?" Markus said, grinning. Lightning's eyes flashed, and Markus took off running for his life.

"GET BACK HERE ROSS!" Lightning shouted, giving chase. Meanwhile, Snow and Serah came rushing out, having heard Lightning's outburst.

"Well.. That's one way to get her to chase you, Markus," Snow said, before bursting into laughter.

"You know, this isn't funny. She might actually kill him, and then you'll need a new best man," Serah said, although she was trying her best to not laugh, and failing.

"Naahhh... She won't hurt him. Much," Snow replied, correcting himself after a moment.

A/N: Hehe, more attempted murder from Light, and Markus is still a god of gaming. Anywho, quick question: is this going to slow or fast for you lots liking? Because I WILL be ending this story with the wedding, and I'm not sure if I can fit all the events leading up to LightxMarkus before the wedding... :/


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: HELLO ALL! I... Have mixed feelings about this chapter, to be honest. I haven't had the chance to properly read the reviews but I promise I'll do a Q&A/ Response thingy for the next chapter, OK? So if you have any question, freaking ask! . Anywho, enjoy! =D

DISCLAIMER: Alas, I am not a multimillionare and as such, can't buy the rights to Final Fantasy. Sigh.

Chapter 11

By the time Lightning and Markus returned from Serah and Snow's house, where they were roped into what they both suspected was a attempted double dinner date, it was dark.

"Hmm. Light's aren't on," Lightning mused out loud. Indeed, the two story house looks very devoid of life.

"They're kids. Most likely, they're being lazy," Markus said, cutting off the engine of his car, before pushing the door open and stepping out. Lightning did the same, a small warning bell going off in her mind. She ignored it.

"Tayla? Sheepboy? You here?" Markus said, stepping inside. Lightning snorted at Markus' pet name for Hope, and he just grinned in response.

"What? He does sorta look like a sheep," he said, flicking on the lights. The lounge was relatively tidy, the TV was off, and the Xbox was packed away.

"Hmmm. Weird," Markus said.

"Why? Whats up?" Light asked, looking at the man. Again, an alarm went off, and again, she ignored it.

"Those two love games. Well, Tayla does, anyway," Markus said, before turning and walking upstairs.

'Where're you going?" Lightning asked.

"Need to take a piss," was Markus' reply. Lightning shrugged, then walked into the kitchen. _Hmm... They haven't eaten... May as well cook SOMETHING for them..._ Lightning thought, looking around the tidy cooking area. She would never, EVER admit it to anyone, but she had been taking cooking lessons from Serah for a few months now, and was actually able of producing a decent dinner meal. However, she was never able to cook bacon properly, and doubted she would ever be able to.

"Its like, the stuff hates me..." Lightning muttered, opening the freezer and looking for some minced beef.

She then jumped as three different screams and cries echoed from upstairs.

* * *

"Okay, explain," Lightning demanded, hands on hips. Markus stood beside her, his expression stoney, but slightly amused. In front of them, seated on the couch, was Hope and Tayla, both of whom were blushing madly, and looked like they had dressed in a hurry.

"Look Light, don't be mad..." Hope began, before faultering under his guardain's glare.

"Mad? I'm not mad, Hope. I'm _beyond _mad," Lightning said icily.

"Maybe shes so mad, that shes come full circle and calmed down," Markus said, trying his best to not grin. "I, on the other hand, am angry as hell."

"Look, whats so bad? We're going out, aren't we? What's so wrong, then?" Tayla suddenly said, glaring at her elder brother. Markus blinked for a moment, then sighed.

"look, I was kidding, okay? I was trying to annoy Light-" A elbow to the ribs cut him off for a moment, before he continued. "- but the thing that gets me, is that.. .Well, you didn't exactly ask anything."

"Well... We, uh..." Hope stammered, blushing a brighter red, if it were possible.

"You were embrassassed?" Lightning guessed. Hope nodded, not ocne making eye contact with Lightning.

"Okay okay. Before we go further, one question. How long have you two been fucking?" Markus said, before quickly backpledding away from Lightning's incoming fist.

"First time was today," Tayla blurted out. Both Lightning and Markus relaxed at this.

"Phew. Thank Erto for that. If you had been doing it behind our backs, I would have been forced to murder Hope," Markus said. Said silver haired teenager looked at Markus fearfully, but the man just grinned.

"Well... If you are... Sexually active... We should at least talk to you," Lightning said, her own cheeks turning slightly pink at the thought. _I didn't even have this conversation with my own mother. Now I have to have it with Hope, _Lightning thought. Markus must of picked up on her nervousness, and spoke.

"Okay. Kids, upstairs. Come down when we give you a yell," he said, jabbing a thumb at the stairway, before dragging Lightning into the kitchen.

'What the hell, Markus?" Lightning said, glaring at him.

"Chill. I've been expecting this for a while. I just... Didn't expect to fucking walk in on them..." Markus said, shuddering slightly, before moving to turn the water jug on.

"Well... How are we gonna do this, Markus?" Lightning said, deciding to approach this like a situation in the field. Markus smiled.

"Well... Since giving my little sister 'the talk' would be all sorts of alkward, how about I take Hope, and you take Tayla?" Markus said, not looking up from making coffee.

"You know, that's not a bad plan," Light said, accepting a coffee mug from Markus once he had finished.

"See, I can be smart when I want to be," he said, grinning. Light just shook her head.

When the two teenagers were summoned back downstairs, Lightning was seated in an armchair, sipping at her (second) coffee, while Markus was leaning against the wall nearby.

"Hope. Get a jacket. We're going for a drive," Markus said, spinning his keys around his fingers. Hope jumped, then nodded and went back upstairs.

"Tayla, you get to stay here with Light. Play nice now," Markus continued, grinning in response Lightning's glare. A few moments later, Hope came back downstairs wearing a grey zip up hoodie with New Palumpolum High written on the back.

"Right then. Come on kid," Markus said, moving towards the door. Hope followed slowly. Lightning waited until both had left, then spoke.

"Sit," she said, waving a hand at the couch. Tayla slowly sat down and looked at Lightning. The older woman sighed.

"Trust me, this is not something I thought I would have to do," Lightning said.

"And I had hoped that it would be my mum that was giving me this talk," Tayla replied, her voice sad.

"At least you're getting it," Light said, giving Tayla a serious look.

"What?.." Tayla's face was ridden with confusion.

"My parents died when I was 14. I was too busy looking after Serah to be a teenager," Lightning said bitterly. Tayla flinched, and Lightning instantly felt guilty.

"Well... I may not have been talked to, but I can try to talk to you. so... Any questions?" Lightning asked, her voice as kind as she could get it.

"First things first," Markus said, unlocking his car and glaring over it at Hope. "You break her heart, and I'll use you as a sharpening tool for my gunblade. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Hope said, returning Markus' glare with a salute and a smile. That cracked Markus' glare and the older man grinned.

"Thatta boy. Get in," he said, opening the car door and seating himself. Hope followed suit.

"So, where we going?" Hope said, looking at the interior of the car. It was fairly tidy, if only because all the rubbish was thrown across the back seat.

"I talk better when I'm driving. Besides, I doubt we want to be around when Lightning gets going," Markus said, grinning at the silver haired boy, before keying the ignition and starting the engine.

"Yeah. I agree there," Hope said, returning the grin. "But you didn't answer the question."

"Mall?" Markus asked, looking at the boy. Hope shrugged and nodded. Markus floored it, leaving poor Hope grasping for a handhold.

* * *

The two males walked through the empty mall, sipping at milkshakes, paid for by Markus. Although most of the stores closed around 5pm, the actual mall complex itself didn't shut until around 11pm, or when the secuirty guards couldn't be assed staying awake any longer.

"So, got any questions?" Markus said, sipping at his milkshake (chocolate).

"Yeah. Why do you have so many condoms?" Hope asked, sipping at his milkshake (banana).

"Okay. Firstly, don't steal, just ask. Secondly, because I am a sexy, sexy man, and sexy men need lots of condoms. And third, how the hell did you find them?" Markus said.

"I didn't. Tayla did and took a picture to show me," Hope said. Markus flinched at that.

"My sister is too good at stealing my stuff," he said, sipping at his milkshake, shaking it, then tossing the now empty milkshake into the nearest rubbish bin. Then, he felt his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket, and pulled it out.

"Umm.. Are condoms meant to be a bit loose?" Hope asked as Markus read the message: A very bad joke from Snow. He replied with a snarky message and flicked the phone shut.

"Hmm? Oh. Means that either the condom is too big, or you're too small," Markus said with a grin. Hope growled and smacked Markus in the arm.

"Ow! Lightning been giving you lessons?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

"Under the condition I punch Snow," Hope replied, slightly smug.

"Well, in any case, no need for violence. If you're worried, don't be. You've still got growing to do, kid," Markus said. Hope nodded. Markus sighed.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, want me to buy you some? I'm sure theres a store thats open somewhere," Markus said, smiling.

"Okay," Hope said, nodding. Markus grinned, then started walking towards the exit, Hope following after a few moments.

"Hey Markus," Hope said.

"Yeah?" Markus said, turning his head towards Hope.

"Thanks. Doubt Lightning would have been as... Chilled, as you are," Hope said.

"No problem. Think of it this way: it was me, or Snow," Markus said, grinning. Hope snorted.

* * *

Once Markus had found a open all hours store and brought Hope some "supplies" and answered any other questions the youth had, it was knocking on 11pm.

"You sure you want to go inside? Lightning might have just murdered Tayla and left it at that," Markus said, grinning.

"Hey you never know. Tayla might have killed Light," Hope said. Markus snorted, then opened the front door, and was greeted by the sound of female laughter.

_5 minutes earlier..._

"Okay okay... Ummm... First date?" Tayla said, sitting on the couch beside Lightning. In front of them, an opea pizza box was sitting on the coffee table, along with the cases for a sappy romance movie.

"Ummm... I was 16... Went to a movie," Lightning said, taking a bite out of a piece of pizza.

"Who? Do you remember?" Tayla said.

"Cid. Cid Raines. Poor bastard," Lightning said, remembering the charasmatic man.

"Why? What happened to him?" Tayla asked.

"Got turned into a l'Cie. Ended up getting shot by his second in command," Lightning said.

"Oh ouch. That must of sucked," Tayla said.

"Okay, enough. Your turn," Lightnign said, looking directly at the teenager.

"Hope. We went to that chocobo farm out of town. He drove us there," Tayla said. "It was fucking funny. The farmer guy, think his name was Cloud, and his wife both told us not to let any of the chicks land on our heads, but Hope couldn't resist. Next thing I know, Hope's being chased by a angry mother chocobo, which is being chased by the farmer." Tayla couldn't continue, the mental image becoming too much, and burst out in laughter. Lightning, imagining the scene, quickly joined her. After a minute, Lightning stopped laughing long enough to hear the door open, and turned to see Markus and Hope looking at the two of them like they were crazy. The look on their faces was too much for Lightning, and she cracked up laughing again.

"What have you two been smoking, and can I have some?" Markus asked, tossing his jacket onto the back of an armchair.

"Nothing. We've just been talking," Tayla said, once she had managed to control her laughter.

"About?" Hope asked.

"Girl stuff," Lightning said. Hope left it at that.

"Is there pizza for us?" Hope asked, seating himself beside Tayla, who immediately wiggled closer to him.

"There," Lightning said, pointing at another pizza box on the kitchen table. Markus walked over and grabbed the box, opening it as he walked to the couch.

"Mmmm... Meatlovers," he said, sitting down beside Lightning and grabbing himself a piece before passing the box over to Hope.

"See? Told you. Men love meat," Tayla said, smiling at Lightning while Markus and Hope snorted.

"Yeah yeah..." the older woman muttered, trying her best not to laugh.

* * *

It was easily midnight when Hope and Tayla went to bed, leaving Markus and Lightning alone downstairs.

Neither spoke for a while.

Then, Markus spoke.

"Wanna watch a movie? Cause I'm not tired."

"Hmmm. Sure," Lightning replied. Markus stood and grabbed a movie from the pile beside the TV cabinet.

"Please, nothing too gory," Lightning said. She may enjoy gory movies, but midnight is never a good time to watch anything gory.

"Don't worry," Markus said, placing the disk into the DVD player. Lightning sighed in relief when the title card for Hot Fuzz came up.

"Haven't you watched this before?" she asked. She did remember Markus watching the comady religiously for a few days.

"So? Doesn't make it any less awesome," Markus replied, sitting back down beside Lightning.

Other the course of the movie, the two slowly edged closer, either on purpose, or through subconious actions. By the time the last few scenes were starting, Lightning was leaning into Markus and he had a arm around her shoulders. Neither had spoke, but both found the situation comfortable. By the time the credits began rolling, Lightning found herself slowly falling asleep on Markus' shoulder.

"Well, enjoy?" Markus asked, turning the TV off with the remote.

"Yeap. Funny," Lightning replied sleepily. Markus smiled, then sighed.

"Light. Do you like me?" Markus asked seriously. That shocked Lightning awake.

"What makes you ask that?" Lightning asked, looking up at the brown haired man.

"Because I like you. Wouldn't have accepted the offer to live here otherwise," Markus said simply. "You looked so hurt.. .So concerned. No one has been like that to me before. Except Tayla, naturally."

"What makes you ask that now, though?" Lightning said.

"Well.. Maybe because I've been thinking about it for the last few days. Maybe because Serah and Snow's poor attempts at hooking us up are getting to me. Maybe because its fucking late and I'm a little sleep deprived. But mainly, because... I like you," Markus stated simply.

"Well... I think, that we are both tired, and not thinking straight," Lightning said, although in her head what Markus was saying was ringing true, to a degree. Despite her best efforts, Lightning's face flushed red at what they were talking about.

"I can see you blushing," Markus said, the grin on his face coming through in his voice.

"Shut up," Lightning said, shoving at Markus in a very un-Lightning way.

"Well... I think your cute when you blush. You try to hide yourself away when you do," Markus said, grinning.

"Your evil, you know that?" Lightning said.

"I know Claire. I know," Markus said, smiling at Lightning. She looked up at the mention of her true name, and found her face inches from Markus'.

"You know... I don't like that name..." Lightning whispered.

"Well.. I think... Its a lovely name..." Markus replied, before leaning in and touching his lips to hers. Lightning froze, her entire body going stiff. His lips were dry, but not rough, and his kiss wasn't rough either. It was soft, hesitent... Testing the waters, so to speak. _Ohmigod, ohmigod, what do I do? _Lightning thought. Mini Vanille and Mini Fang appeared in her mind's eye, hugging each other, both chanting the same thing: "_KISS BACK!"_

And thats just what Lightning did. She slowly kissed back, leaning into the kiss and onto Markus. The kiss didn't last for more then a few moments, and Lightning gave a small noise, not unlike a whine, when Markus pulled away, leaving Lightning shaking slightly.

"I think... Thats enough for tonight," Markus said. Lightning noted that his breathing was slightly ragged; he was as badly affected as she was.

"Uh... Yeah..." Lightning said, once her voice returned, and stood slowly. Markus stood as well, to collect his bedding.

"Hey Lightning," Markus said, as Lightning made her way around a armchair.

"Yes Markus?" Lightning said, turning and looking at him.

"Thanks for not knocking my block off. Makes me feel liked," Markus said, grinning. Lightning chuckled softly.

"Goodnight Markus," she said softly.

"G'night Claire," he replied.

A/N: Ewwwww . First kiss scene I've ever written. I dun like it, but meh. Reviews are encouraged, I PROMISE I'LL TAKE THE TIME TO READ THEM . I've been busy guys! Anyway, hope you enjoy. Remember, questions and stuffs are welcome! 3


	12. Author's Note

Hey guys, it's me, Watery! I'm sorry for leaving you guys, please take me back D:

But in all seriousness, I am sorry for the lack of updates over the last year. Shit's been happening constantly and I've only just started to get settled down again. Of course, this means that I'll actually be able to focus on my writing... IF I HADNT GONE AND LOST THE ONLY COPIES OF ALL MY STORIES OH GOD T_T. So yeah...

Never fear! I intend to finish After The End. I feel that I owe Markus and Lightning their happy(ish) ending. Once I have finished with/ run into writers block over After The End, I will be dusting off my old FictionPress account (Does that place still exist? xD) and posting a FULL and COMPLETE rewrite of my first attempt at a story, The Pilgrims are Gathering. It'll have a new title, a new story layout, and (el gasp!) less ripoffs from Final fantasy! The reason behind this is because in my vision of where I wanted to take the storyline I found myself drifting further away from Final Fantasy, to the point where the story took on it's own life and stopped being a mere fanfiction.

That is, assuming I can get a new laptop within the next ten years. Anyway, drop questions and stuff in the review box. I'll read them. Eventually.

And this may have been a shameless bump of my most successful story. DONT JUDGE.

Never stop dreaming. Never stop creating. Never stop believing.

- Watery


	13. A Christmas Gift

A Christmas Gift (AKA totally not me giving you guys something cause my writers block is back feel sorry for me I really wanna give you guys great but everything I write for this is crappy D: )

"Did you really have to?"

"Yes. I looked at it and thought of you."

"But this... _Really?_"

"If it's embrassing, hide it. Simple as that.'

"And what if Hope or Tayla find it?"

"Then explain it away. Or get angry. You're good at that, I hear."

At this point, one Claire "Lightning" Farron had had enough and flung the offending item at the head of Markus Ross, her live-in boyfriend and source of endless amounts of frustration and warm, fuzzy feelings. For his part, Markus caught the item and chuckled.

"It's. Not. Funny," she fumed. Markus grinned and held the item up, the rements of wrapping paper still attatched.

"What? "Cooking for Dummies". I thought it would help you. Seeing as every time you cook, you poison us," Markus said, the grin never fading. Lightning's eyebrow twitched, and Markus heeded the only warning he would be getting and ran for his life.

A/N: Hey. It's me. I know, I'm sorry for not updating for moooonths. But RL takes forefront and I haven't really had many ideas come to me. But enough about me, the story!

I am sorely tempted to call it quits and try a more one-shot type approach with this. Same characters and setting, but more random funny stuff then anything trying for a semi-serious story. Yes, there will be fluff. So yay? Nah? Moar? REVIEWS ARE NICE. Caio!


End file.
